title: Power source
text: # Power source
  
  A power source is a source of power. Most commonly the type of power referred to is:
  
  Power source may correspondingly refer to:
  
  * A source of primary energy, an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any conversion or transformation process
  * Energy carrier, or secondary energy, a substance or phenomenon that contains energy that can be later converted to other forms such as mechanical work or heat or to operate chemical or physical processes
     * Fuel, a material that stores potential energy in forms that can be practicably released and used for work
     * See Energy development for an overview of primary and secondary energy or power sources
  
  or, often more specifically to an electric power source:
  
  * The electric power industry
  * A source of electrical energy
     * Electric power system, a network of electrical components used to supply, transmit and use electric power
        * Electricity generation, the process of generating electric power from other sources of primary energy
        * Power station, an industrial facility for the generation of electric power
        * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy for use in an external circuit
        * Electric power transmission
        * Electric power distribution
        * Mains electricity or household power, the general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply
        * AC power plugs and sockets, devices that allow electrically operated equipment to be connected to the primary alternating current (AC) power supply in a building
     * Battery (electricity), a device consisting of one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy
  
  Some conversion devices are sometimes called a "power source":
  
  * Engine, a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion
  * Power supply, an electrical device that supplies electric energy to an electrical load, by converting one form of electrical energy to another
  
  ## As a proper name
  
  PowerSource may also refer to:
  
  * PowerSource (phone brand), mobile phone that can make use of both Sprint-Nextel cellular networks
  * PowerSource (musical group), a Christian music group of the 1980s
  * PowerSource, a weekly print section, and a companion website of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, highlighting the Pittsburgh region’s diverse energy industry
  