Off Grid Home Forums Technical Discussion hybrid, off-grid, diesel generator Re: hybrid, off-grid, diesel generator

#64458
elnav
Member

Hybrid off-grid diesel generator? Generally speaking the term hybrid is used with respect to propulsion systems as in ‘hybrid cars” It has also been misused in referring to multi-fuel internal combustion engines but neither term really makes sense when speaking about off-grid applications of generators. regardless of what they use for fuel.

Hybrid vehicles recapture energy by regenerative braking as when the momentum of the vehicle causes the wheels to keep turning while applying a drag that turns the electric motor backwards and recharges the battery a little bit. Although it is not specifically mentioned hybrid engine systems run at variable speed.

Conventional generator sets run at a constant speed to produce a fixed frequency and a steady voltage. Some generators are multi fuel where they can switch from one fuel to another such as regular diesel to vegetable oil fuel and at times this has also been labelled as ‘hybrid’ by non technical journalists who really should not write about technical subjects they are not qualified to comment on. They tend to quote experts but lack the insight to accurately quote a complex subject in fewer words.

One generator that comes to mind is the Honda EU2000i which is variable speed but as far as I know it does not run on multiple fuels only gasoline.

Any generator is capable of being used in an application that is off-grid. In fact if you are connected to the grid why would you bother to run a generator and pay more for power. If the utility power fails because the grid wires broke then you are already ‘off-grid’ and you now need the generator as a back up. You have to watch these marketing people and non technical journalists. They tend to confuse even simple technical subjects.