I have only limited experience with the GIllette, but I was impressed
with the specs on that 15 Kw unit, it was a water cooled 4 cyl running
at 1800 rpm, just what your customer needs, but probably way more than
they want to spend.
Can you add more PV to reduce the generator run time?
Ray
On 1/14/2012 7:06 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
Thank you for the good responses. Here's what I have learned so far:
Re Onan: as I had mentioned in my original post, "The 6 year old
system has worn out two Onan residential standby generators." This
was before our initial visit. Both generators were air-cooled 3600 rpm
units, as I understand. Neither was designed for the hours it was run.
However, the customer is not very pleased with Onan because of this
experience, even though I'm not sure how much of the experience was
Onan's fault, beyond the initial recommendation. Certainly, selling
the customer a home standby unit with heater and battery
charger/controller AC loads was not wise. But apparently the
distributor is buying the most recent failed unit back from the
customer. I would like to recommend an Onan RS20000, as these are
excellent units, but the customer may resist this after bad
experiences with the RS12000, even though it's a completely different
unit.
Re Kohler: Kohler's 15kW unit is that it too is for home standby
application. The local Kohler service rep had no model to recommend.
Re Olympian (made by Caterpillar): the smallest model sold in this
country is a 25kW, well larger than we need.
Re Generac: while I am quite impressed with the 6kW EcoGen unit,
that's a special model, developed for the purpose, and too small for
this application. I'm hesitant to use one of their standard units.
That leaves Gillette, who makes a 15kW LP with a GM engine. I'm
waiting for a quote.
Allan
*Allan Sindelar*
_Allan@positiveenergysolar.com_ <mailto:al...@positiveenergysolar.com>
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
*Positive Energy, Inc.*
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
*505 424-1112*
_www.positiveenergysolar.com_ <http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/>
*
*
On 1/10/2012 10:15 AM, Randy Brooks wrote:
Allan,
Check out Cummins/Onan units too.
Randy Brooks
Brooks Solar, Inc.
*/Solar Power for People/*
140 Columbia View
Chelan, WA98816
509-682-9646
ra...@brookssolar.com <mailto:ra...@brookssolar.com>
www.BrooksSolar.com <http://www.BrooksSolar.com>
On Jan 9, 2012, at 7:59 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
Wrenches:
We have cautiously agreed to take on a substantial upgrade and
rehabilitation of a poorly designed 48V off-grid system. Our upgrade
will include a substantial array addition, battery replacement, and
charge controller/safety disconnect replacement. But the immediate
need is for a generator. The 6 year old system has worn out two Onan
residential standby generators; the second one just now (at winter
solstice) has failed completely.
We expect to keep the two SW5548 inverters. The site is at 7,800'
elevation. The fuel must be LP. The customer is willing to pay for a
high-quality unit. We expect only to specify or recommend the unit,
but not resell it, so there's no profit motivation involved; we just
want the best solution..
I am looking for recommendations of a low-speed, liquid-cooled,
commercial- or industrial-grade LP generator, of at least 12kW and
preferably around 15kW, with a good reputation for long-term
reliability, and that is not designed for home standby use (with
phantom-load heaters and controls). It will be located outdoors, so
must have a weather enclosure.
I occasionally am asked to answer this same question by Home Power
readers, who assume I know the answer because I wrote a primer on
generators for HP awhile back. Truth is, I don't have any good
recommendations in this size range, and I'm really hoping that some
of you experienced off-grid Wrenches who have done larger systems
can help here.
Thank you,
Allan
--
*Allan Sindelar*
_Allan@positiveenergysolar.com_ <mailto:al...@positiveenergysolar.com>
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
*Positive Energy, Inc.*
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
*505 424-1112*
_www.positiveenergysolar.com_ <http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/>
*
*
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