Three-phase electric power is a common method of alternating-current electric power generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system and is the most common method used by electrical grids worldwide to transfer power. It is also used to power large motors and other heavy loads. A three-phase system is usually more economical than an equivalent single-phase at the same line to ground voltage because it uses less conductor material to transmit electrical power. The three-phase system was independently invented by Galileo Ferraris, Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Jonas Wenström and Nikola Tesla in the late 1880s.