Commercial Generators For many businesses, a power outage can be catastrophic, causing decreased output or production, spoiled inventory, lost labor hours and more. Fortunately, there are many ways to navigate outages and maintain electric stability. One of the most common is using a commercial generator.
1 What Is a Commercial Generator? Commercial generators generally provide backup power to ensure critical equipment remains operational during an outage. They may be necessary or even legally required when a loss of power would pose a life-safety risk or cause substantial financial losses to a business. Power sources for commercial generators include diesel, propane, gasoline and natural gas, though diesel is most prevalent thanks to its lower upfront and maintenance costs. Natural gas is also popular and benefits from having availability through existing utility infrastructure; however, during natural disasters, supply may be cutoff. In general, there are two use types for commercial generators: continuous duty and backup. As their names suggest, continuous duty would be used constantly — even when grid power is available — and backup would be used during an outage or power quality event. The types of generators have different emissions requirements (see Part 7 for more information) that could impact their price, with continuous duty typically being more expensive. Brands of commercial generators include Caterpillar, Generac, Cummins and Kohler. Along with generators, battery storage is another option for backup power. Battery storage has other benefits, such as power quality management and solar/renewable energy integration. This technology is further explored in our Commercial and Industrial Battery Storage fact sheet.
2 How Does a Generator Work? Most generators have an engine powered by a fuel source (e.g., diesel, natural gas, propane) and some form of internal cooling and lubrication system. In addition, generators have an alternator that converts the mechanical energy produced by the engine into electricity. This electricity will generally be regulated based on the voltage so that it matches the requirements of the desired applications.