WHY USE SOLAR IN CONSTRUCTION? 

Not only do Pure Power’s solar generators produce enough pure, clean, quiet power to run a typical job site, but there are real economic and health benefits to using solar:

1) Economics

Imagine having to continually purchase fuel for your generator – $3.50 or so a gallon, day after day. And imagine paying a guy to go get the fuel, and fill it – that’s what, $50 a trip – plus productivity lost while he’s making the trip? And thenpaying another guy to lubricate and tune up the generator…. with a solar generator, none of these costs occur (and the rental rate is competitive with a diesel generator).

2) Health

A generator is a generator, right? Not really! Let’s start with the immediate impacts of a diesel generator: NOISE. A typical diesel generator produces about 100 decibels of noise -workers, managers, neighbors – - everyone gets annoyed (at best), and has actual physical reactions at worst (see link)

How about DIESEL EXHAUST? The EPA says that diesel exhaust contains 40 carcinogenic compounds. Um, anyone want to breathe those all day?

Diesel also comes with a delivery mechanism for those cancer-causing compounds – they latch onto diesel soot (particulate matter), and can be breathed deeply into sensitive lung tissue. Perhaps this is why the California Air Resources Board put this press release on its home page)

THE BIG PICTURE: GLOBAL IMPACTS OF DIESEL GENERATORS

A typical diesel generator creates over 22 lbs. of carbon dioxide for every gallon of fuel used. That’s not so much a local impact as a global one – do you want your jobsite to be a climate change contributor?

“The Lowdown on Mobile Photovoltaic Power Generators” appearing today in GreenSource discusses portable solar power as an alternative to diesel generators, and features a photo of our Hybrid S10 model, along with some discussion of Pure Power Distribution and our Mobile Solar Power Systems(TM). 

The Hybrid S10 (pictured) is the only Mobile Solar Power System (and the only portable solar unit we’re aware of) that has an onboard Tier 4 biodiesel generator as a standard feature. Since the article was about mobile solar-only power, we can understand how Hybrid systems are another level altogether – perhaps they merit a second article. 

The benefits of our Hybrid S10 are subtle but significant:

•  Pure Power: As power needs ramp up on a job site, some solar systems are simply not able to keep up. A contractor has to work closely with a knowledgeable solar provider to understand not only output rates, but recharge rates.
• Stamina: The Hybrid S10 has deep cycle batteries rated at 1,020 Amp hours (6 hour rate – a different calculation than the 20-hour rate shown in the article) to accommodate heavy use, potential weather situations, AND nighttime use.
• Rugged Construction: Mobile Solar Power Systems are uniquely and specifically designed to function as mobile power sources, and an alternative to diesel generators. They are ruggedly built specifically to work on construction sites and other unfinished terrain.
• Battery-extending onboard generators: Solar-only equipment is just the right solution for many jobs. Certain jobs, however, require the ability to power the site longer, or into the evening, or day-after-day. What’s different about our Hybrid S10 is: as our batteries are used, our charge controller automatically switches on the generator to charge the batteries – with no output loss to the construction site. The generator runs for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, using only approximately 1 gallon of diesel.
• Hybrid: Our Hybrid S10 provides power AND extended life to the construction site. Yes, it requires some use of diesel, but in a way that significantly avoids diesel fumes and carbon dioxide output, as compared to a diesel-only solution. Our Tier 4 generator, running B20, is 93% more environmentally efficient than a Tier 1 generator in terms of particulate matter (soot). Instead of the constant drone of a diesel engine, ours runs temporarily, then automatically shuts off.
• Construction workers like the quiet: it was unfortunate that the article didn’t spell out the benefit of silent operation of a Mobile Solar Power System. On sites we’ve provided power, this is the #1 compliment we receive, “thanks for making it quiet!”