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    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. <br>
    Can you add more PV to reduce the generator run time? <br>
    <br>
    Ray<br>
    <br>
    On 1/14/2012 7:06 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
    <blockquote cite="mid:4F1234B6.6020903@positiveenergysolar.com"
      type="cite">
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      Thank you for the good responses. Here's what I have learned so
      far:<br>
      <br>
      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.<br>
      <br>
      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.<br>
      <br>
      Re Olympian (made by Caterpillar): the smallest model sold in this
      country is a 25kW, well larger than we need.<br>
      <br>
      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.<br>
      <br>
      That leaves Gillette, who makes a 15kW LP with a GM engine. I'm
      waiting for a quote.<br>
      Allan<br>
      <br>
      <div class="moz-signature">
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        <font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><b>Allan Sindelar</b></font><br>
        <small><a moz-do-not-send="true"
            href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><font
              color="#000099" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><u>Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</u></font></a></small><font
          face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
          <span style="font-size: 10pt;">NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic
            Installer<br>
            NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br>
            New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
            <b>Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br>
            3201 Calle Marie<br>
            Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br>
            <b>505 424-1112</b><br>
            <a moz-do-not-send="true"
              href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/" target="_blank"><u>www.positiveenergysolar.com</u></a><o:p></o:p></span></font>
        <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 722.25pt;"><span
            style="font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Times New Roman, Times,
              serif"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:state
                  w:st="on"></st1:state><st1:postalcode w:st="on"></st1:postalcode></st1:place></font><b
              style=""><br>
            </b></span></p>
        <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
        </span> </div>
      <br>
      On 1/10/2012 10:15 AM, Randy Brooks wrote:
      <blockquote
        cite="mid:54AF8AAA-2355-487C-8B21-A89795C7866E@BrooksSolar.com"
        type="cite">Allan,
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>Check out Cummins/Onan units too.  </div>
        <div><br>
          <div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:
              separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal;
              letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2;
              text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
              normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3">Randy Brooks</font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3">Brooks Solar, Inc.</font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3"><b><i>Solar Power for People</i></b></font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3">140 Columbia View</font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3">Chelan, WA<span
                    class="Apple-converted-space"> <span
                      class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>98816</font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3">509-682-9646</font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                    href="mailto:Randy@BrooksSolar.com">Randy@BrooksSolar.com</a></font></p>
              <p style="margin: 0px;"><font style="" face="Times New
                  Roman" size="3"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                    href="http://www.BrooksSolar.com">www.BrooksSolar.com</a></font></p>
            </span> </div>
          <br>
          <div>
            <div>On Jan 9, 2012, at 7:59 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:</div>
            <br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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              <div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Wrenches:<br>
                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.<br>
                <br>
                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..<br>
                <br>
                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.<br>
                <br>
                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.<br>
                <br>
                Thank you,<br>
                Allan<br>
                <div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
                  <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
                    charset=ISO-8859-1">
                  <title></title>
                  <font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><b>Allan
                      Sindelar</b></font><br>
                  <small><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                      href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><font
                        color="#000099" face="Times New Roman, Times,
                        serif"><u>Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</u></font></a></small><font
                    face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
                    <span style="font-size: 10pt;">NABCEP Certified
                      Photovoltaic Installer<br>
                      NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br>
                      New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
                      <b>Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br>
                      3201 Calle Marie<br>
                      Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br>
                      <b>505 424-1112</b><br>
                      <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                        href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/"
                        target="_blank"><u>www.positiveenergysolar.com</u></a><o:p></o:p></span></font>
                  <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 722.25pt;"><span
                      style="font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Times New
                        Roman, Times, serif"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city
                            w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:state w:st="on"></st1:state><st1:postalcode
                            w:st="on"></st1:postalcode></st1:place></font><b
                        style=""><br>
                      </b></span></p>
                  <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
                  </span> </div>
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