MPS – Great Idea But It Won’t Work!
Ten years ago a conversation with a consulting engineer about Generac’s Modular Power System (MPS), a relatively new concept at the time, might have gone something like this:
Engineer: Seems like a good idea, but it won’t work.
Gen-Tech: Interesting, why do you believe that?
Engineer: The sales rep from [you fill in the blank] says it won’t work. They say the only way you can have a reliable paralleling system is with freestanding switchgear to provide the paralleling brains. The generator needs to have a “dumb” engine, and besides, you have to have the switchgear anyway so you have a place to put the paralleling circuit breaker.
Fast-forward ten years and the dialogue has changed. Now the conversation has the consulting engineer, and now even the contractor buying the equipment, saying, “They [again you fill in the blank] say they can do everything Generac can do.” So now we have gone from it won’t work, to the point that “they” [whoever they is] can now do everything Generac has been doing for over 10 years. I guess this is a wonderful example of “imitation” being the highest form of compliment.
The only problem is no one I know has yet to actually see one of these “imitation” systems in operation, while Generac can point to thousands of systems installed nationwide.
The fact is, MPS works. The Generac Modular Power System, with paralleling controls and a paralleling switch built into each generator, not only makes sense, it works. It has worked so well that every other manufacturer now claims to have a system just like Generac’s.
Not all modular power systems are created equal. When you are evaluating competitive offerings, you may want to make sure they offer a continuously rated paralleling switch mounted on each generator, redundancy for their programmable logic controller and a master controller to manage load adding/shedding to take advantage of the inherent redundancy the modular concept provides.
All systems have some of these features, but only Generac has all of them. Generac’s system is single source, and integrated, with all components on a single programmable logic board that can be changed in less than 15 minutes if required.
Next time you are talking about a standby generator system for your facility, engineering a system for your client, or working on a design/build project for your customer, consider who has provided more paralleling systems than all others combined, and consider letting us help you with your on-site power generation needs. I like to say we don’t have any orphans out there, and we’re not going to start now. We can help – all we ask for is the opportunity.
Don Leher
Industrial Sales Manager
GEN-TECH