Electric lighthouse light, 19th century artwork. Display of an electric light and its steam-powered generator. Patented by Frederick Hale Holmes, this system pioneered the use of an electric light in a lighthouse. It was installed in the South Foreland lighthouse (near Dover, England) in December 1858, followed by Dungeness, Kent, England, in 1862. The system was eventually abandoned because of high operating costs and stability problems with the carbon arcs. Artwork from The Circle of Sciences, London, 1862-67.