Meet Lester Allan Pelton (1829–1908) — the American inventor widely regarded as the father of modern hydroelectric power. A carpenter-turned...

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Meet Lester Allan Pelton (1829–1908) — the American inventor widely regarded as the father of modern hydroelectric power. A carpenter-turned-millwright during the California Gold Rush, Pelton didn't find gold but instead invented something far more valuable: the Pelton Water Wheel, the first impulse turbine that harnessed the kinetic energy of a water jet rather than just water pressure.

His split-bucket design, patented in 1889, outperformed every competitor by 19% in efficiency tests and revolutionised power generation worldwide. By 1887, his wheel was connected to a dynamo in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, producing the first hydroelectric power in the American West. Today, Pelton turbines are still used globally for high-head hydroelectric plants with remarkably little change from the original design.

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