A polyphase system is a means of distributing alternating-current electrical power.

Polyphase systems have three or more energizedelectrical conductors carrying alternating currents with a definite time offset between the voltage waves in each conductor. Polyphase systems are particularly useful for transmitting power to electric motors. The most common example is the three-phase power system used for industrial applications and for power transmission. The most obvious advantage of three-phase power transmission using three wires, as compared to single-phase power transmission over two wires, is that the power transmitted in the three-phase system is the voltage multiplied by the current in each wire times the square root of three (approximately 1.73). The power transmitted by the single-phase system is simply the voltage multiplied by the current. Thus the three-phase system transmits 73% more power but uses only 50% more wire. Phases In the very early days of commercial electric power, some installations usedtwo-phase four-wire systems for motors. The chief advantage of these was that the winding configuration was the same as for a single-phase capacitor-start motor and, by using a four-wire system, conceptually the phases were independent and easy to analyse with mathematical tools available at the time. Two-phase systems can also be implemented using three wires (two "hot" plus a common neutral). However this introduces asymmetry; the voltage drop in the neutral makes the phases not exactly 90 degrees apart. Two-phase systems have been replaced with three-phase systems. A two-phase supply with 90 degrees between phases can be derived from a three-phase system using a Scott-connected transformer. A polyphase system must provide a defined direction of phase rotation, so mirror image voltages do not count towards the phase order. A 3-wire system with two phase conductors 180 degrees apart is still only single phase. Such systems are sometimes described assplit-phase. Motors Polyphase power is particularly useful in AC motors, such as the induction motor, where it generates a rotating magnetic field. When a three-or-more-phase supply completes one full cycle, the magnetic field of a two-poles-per-phase motor has rotated through 360 in physical space; motors with more than two poles per phase require more power supply cycles to complete one physical revolution of the magnetic field and so these motors run slower. Nikola Tesla and Michail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky invented the first practical induction motors using a rotating magnetic field - previously all commercial motors were DC, with expensive commutators, high-maintenance brushes and characteristics unsuitable for operation on an alternating current network. Polyphase motors are simple to construct, are self-starting and have little vibration compared with single-phase motors. Higher phase order Higher phase numbers than three have been used. A common practice for rectifier installations and in HVDC converters is to provide six phases, with 60 degree phase spacing, to reduce harmonic generation in the AC supply system and to provide smoother direct current. Experimental high-phaseorder transmission lines have been built with up to 12 phases. These allow application of Extra High Voltage (EHV) design rules at lower voltages and would permit increased power transfer in the same transmission line corridor width.

A polyphase power system uses multiple voltage sources at different phase angles from each other (many "phases" of voltage waveforms at work). A polyphase power system can deliver more power at less voltage with smaller-gage conductors than single- or split-phase systems.

 The phase-shifted voltage sources necessary for a polyphase power system are created in alternators with multiple sets of wire windings. These winding sets are spaced around the circumference of the rotor's rotation at the desired angle(s).

Phase rotation
Let's take the three-phase alternator design laid out earlier and watch what happens as the magnet rotates:

The phase angle shift of 120o is a function of the actual rotational angle shift of the three pairs of windings. If the magnet is rotating clockwise, winding 3 will generate its peak instantaneous voltage exactly 120o (of alternator shaft rotation) after winding 2, which will hits its peak 120o after winding 1. The magnet passes by each pole pair at different positions in the rotational movement of the shaft. Where we decide to place the windings will dictate the amount of phase shift between the windings' AC voltage waveforms. If we make winding 1 our "reference" voltage source for phase angle (0o), then winding 2 will have a phase angle of -120o (120o lagging, or 240o leading) and winding 3 an angle of -240o (or 120o leading). This sequence of phase shifts has a definite order. For clockwise rotation of the shaft, the order is 1-2-3 (winding 1 peaks first, them winding 2, then winding 3). This order keeps repeating itself as long as we continue to rotate the alternator's shaft:

However, if we reverse the rotation of the alternator's shaft (turn it counter-clockwise), the magnet will pass by the pole pairs in the opposite sequence. Instead of 1-2-3, we'll have 3-2-1. Now, winding 2's waveform will be leading 120o ahead of 1 instead of lagging, and 3 will be another 120o ahead of 2:

The order of voltage waveform sequences in a polyphase system is called phase rotation or phase sequence. If we're using a polyphase voltage source to power resistive loads, phase rotation will make no difference at all. Whether 1-2-3 or 3-2-1, the voltage and current magnitudes will all be the same. There are some applications of three-phase power, as we will see shortly, that depend on having phase rotation being one way or the other. Since voltmeters and ammeters would be useless in telling us what the phase rotation of an operating power system is, we need to have some other kind of instrument capable of doing the job.