GENERAC:
Continuing leadership in
enhancing emergency power
systems capacity and reliability
Florida Construction News special feature
Generac has built its leadership
reputation in providing reliable back-
up power generators – vital (and
even life-saving) when hurricane dis-
asters occur in Florida on almost 60
years experience.
The company employs 4,500
around the world, with a diverse
range of clients, ranging from home-
owners seeking home standby
power systems to engine-powered
generators for hospitals, data cen-
ters, and telecommunications com-
panies requiring larger,
custom-engineered emergency
power systems.
Robert D. Kern started the com-
pany in 1959 to apply then-new sili-
con diode technology to revolving
field alternators. The original Gen-
erac II automatic home backup gen-
erator, first produced in 1989,
created the new industry segment.
In 2001, Generac introduced its
Modular Power System (MPS). “An
integrated approach to generator
paralleling, MPS allows several gen-
erators to connect in parallel to com-
bine their electrical output,” a
company spokesperson says. “The
result is considerably more reliability
and redundancy than using a single
large generator for the application.”
And, in 2003, Generic introduced
Bi-Fuel™ generators, running on nat-
ural gas and diesel fuel simultane-
ously, “combining the perceived
reliability of on-site diesel fuel with
the longer running times that utility
supplied natural gas can provide.”
“Fuel supplies for emergency
power systems have evolved over
the years, and Generac has evolved
with it,” said Art Aiello, Generac’s
senior marketing and communica-
tions manager. “For industrial and
16 – SPRING 2018 — Florida Construction News
commercial applications, there was a
time when diesel fuel was the de
facto fuel source.
“That has changed and continues
to change. Generac’s expertise with
gaseous fuels came largely as a re-
sult of our work on home standby
generators and the engines that
drive them. As a result, we’ve be-
come expert at building engines for
gaseous-fueled generators of all
sizes.” The advantage of these gas-fu-
eled generators is they “start in less
than 10 seconds and are capable of
significantly longer runtimes than
diesel-fueled generators because the
fuel is utility-supplied, Aiello said.
“Additionally, customers avoid diesel
fuel delivery, containment, spillage
and maintenance concerns. Multiple
natural gas fueled generators operat-
ing in parallel not only produce an
equal or greater amount of power
than diesel-fueled units, but also
offer installation flexibility and scala-
bility as needs evolve.”
Dual gas and diesel generators
are especially effective in emergency
situations, such as hurricanes, when
it may be difficult to deliver diesel
fuel. When the generator is hooked
to the gas utility, there is no problem
in replenishing fuel, allowing critical
power systems to remain in opera-
tion. Generac continues to enhance its
technologies and products, most re-
cently introducing the Power Zone
controller for industrial generators.
The PowerZone's 7-in. color touch-
screen display provides run time sta-
tus at-a-glance, providing quick and
immediate access to the most criti-
cal generator and engine parame-
ters. “We wanted to utilize icons as
much as possible, so that interacting
with the Power Zone was intuitive,
just like using a smartphone or an
app,” said Joel DeWall, product man-
ager, Controls Group at Generac.
“The icons and the ability to scroll
allow users to easily navigate
through status and information
screens.” You can learn more about Gen-
erac products at www.generac.com.