What a time to be alive! Fuel prices are their way to the stratosphere, two wars are burning
with targeted attacks on infrastructure: electricity production, fuel extraction, refinement, and
water desalinization. Civil runways are being cratered from drones and missiles, and a list of
critical minerals for manufacturing are deadlocked in supply chains.

Meanwhile, on the home front, terror attacks are on the rise. With the arrival of millions of un-
vetted newcomers, our infrastructure is at increased risk of being on someone’s target list.
That’s not a political statement or an incitement to fear, but a simple statement of fact.

A few things can be easily surmised. First, everything is about to get more expensive. Virtually
all the goods that are delivered to consumers in the US are moved via tractor-trailers or trains,
which, of course, burn diesel fuel. Items completely unrelated to the wars overseas, in some
way, are affected by surging fuel prices. Purchases that might have been on the back burner
may very well be reconsidered on economics alone.

Second, the domestic security threat profile is increasing. American transformer facilities,
refineries, fuel depos and like installations are at an increased risk. Consider that targets like
these are being attacked in a tit-for-tat fashion. One country hits a desalinization plant, the
adversary does the same. Once a civil target class has been attacked, it appears to be on the
menu for everybody. Will someone consider our civil infrastructure to be fair game? This is an
excellent reason to maintain an emergency power source for refrigerated items, well pumps,
etc.

Finally, scarcity often becomes a challenge during these times. Everybody remembers the great
Covid toilet paper shortage. After Snow-pocalypse, generators, PVC, and pool pumps were
listed as “Unobtanium” from suppliers. Two years later – Ice-mageddon pulled down
powerlines, burst pipes and single-handedly bumped the stock prices of chainsaw
manufacturers. The emergency planning that everyone has put in the “ill get to it later box”
may be revisited before they become scarce.

Generators are an obvious item on the emergency planning list. Whole-house generators are
relatively costly in terms of the unit, the skilled labor to install properly, the fuel to run it, and
the cost to maintain it. However, one can argue that contemporary threats make emergency
power a good consideration not for tomorrow, but for today.

As home backup generators become more ubiquitous, so has the need for service, repair and maintenance. Modern generators are
built to higher standards than ever, however, they are still internal combustion engines that consume vaporous gas to turn
magnetized rotors inside wound stators to deliver electricity within precise specifications to a home with sensitive electronics.
Sounds complicated, right? Well, to a trained and seasoned generator technician, it’s just another day at the job.

Despite the improved production and QA standards, just like your car, HVAC system or septic system, these machines require
periodic inspection, maintenance, and sometimes, repairs. Like anything, catching issues early is the key to ensuring long life and
maximum functionality. Furthermore, virtually every manufactured system has its own “gremlins”. An experienced technician,
working for a reputable company that keeps up with training and service publications, can work these issues out of a generator to
ensure maximum reliability. After all, an emergency power system that fails in an emergency is unfortunate irony.

Service agreements are an excellent way to keep your generator functioning as well as possible with regular inspections of the most
common failure points as well as engine maintenance, valve train maintenance, battery health, oil leak checks, etc. Services should
be performed twice a year, usually before the summer and winter seasons. In the spring, checking for insect infestations, oil leaks,
battery terminals, and a clear record of regular starts over the winter months is important. In the fall, checking fuel levels, gas
pressure, vegetation overgrowth, and possibly load-banking units to ensure the unit can generate the amount of power that it is
rated to produce is important. Winter loads for electrically heated homes are generally higher than summer loads.

In addition to purchasing a service agreement for your generator, Generac customers can purchase extended warranties for up to 10
years. These warranties indemnify the homeowner of repair costs and includes labor and parts. Generac pays certified technicians
to diagnose, procure parts and make necessary repairs for units under warranty. Companies that employ Generac certified
technicians stock most parts for common units, such as air-cooled Guardian series units, making repairs expeditious and efficient.

Consider the difference between the following: being informed by your technician that your generator experienced an issue, was
repaired and tested with no charge – or – experiencing an outage only to find out that your generator failed to start when you really
needed it.

Whole house generators have become popular home improvements in recent years. Multiple
winter storms have crippled the state’s grid, political unrest has become a real concern for
many, and the flow of millions of newly minted Texans has only exacerbated the need for
power.

As with any electro-mechanical system, a whole-house generator requires a bit of maintenance.
For generator owners, ensuring their power stays on when the power turns off doesn’t need to
be a source of worry or surprise by big invoices and hassles.

Generators do require regularly scheduled maintenance. Manufacturers build alerts into their
systems to make sure that system owners are aware of this. For example, Generac units throw
an alarm code annually to check the battery. Batteries are the number one failure in
generators – and it’s usually a hidden failure. Because batteries are out in the elements, they
are highly susceptible to corrosion. While this is an easy problem to repair and prevent, it’s
nefarious because the battery will still provide voltage to the controller, will still charge, and
will still present itself as viable UNTIL large amounts of amperage are demanded of it – to start
the generator!

This example is one of many, illustrating how something easy to remediate and prevent can
become a total failure at the most essential moment. Other examples include firmware
updates, sensor circuit grounding, engine break-in service, inlet gas pressure adjustment
(they’re almost always too low), and oil consumption (break-in periods burn oil).

To a seasoned generator technician, these are all easy to spot, easy to fix, and easy to prevent.
However, that assumes that a technician is looking at the generator. Maintenance contracts
are an easy way to ensure that a professional is looking after your system.

Another maintenance “low hanging fruit” for generator owners is to take time to learn how the
transfer switch and generator work and work together. That doesn’t mean memorizing
complicated wire diagrams, it just means learning the basic function from an experienced
technician to learn the steps to get lights back on quickly and easily.

For example, Generac Auto Transfer Switches are manufactured with a provision to manually
transfer in the case that the auto function failed. Generators can be manually started in the
case the that the auto start failed. Overloaded generators can be reset in a matter of seconds.
Generators are insurance policies, make sure the policy is in good standing.

During normal conditions, a grid-tied solar PV system “pushes” electricity into the
home’s electrical service to be used by electrical loads. Excess energy goes through
the meter to the electrical utility. During grid outages, a home backup generator starts
itself and “tells” the transfer switch goes into action. The transfer switch isolates the
generator from the grid, protecting linemen and not causing electrical interference on
the grid.

Utilizing both systems, the home is saving money during normal operation and powered
up during electrical outages. However, there are some issues that need to be
addressed for this setup to work safely and correctly.

Grid-tied PV systems are basically current pumps. They sense the grid’s electrical
parameters and dutifully push electricity into the circuit. The word “push” is used
because in a sense, that’s exactly what it’s doing – it’s generating electricity with more
electromotive force than the grid’s supply. Wait, what?

Imagine a water pipe supplying a house with 40 psi. Say the house wanted to send
water BACK to the supply. It would have to generate MORE pressure to send the water
back against a 40-psi supply. So, it might generate 45 psi so that the water flows
backwards.

This fundamental concept applies to any electrical system that has both a generator and
a PV system. A PV system cannot distinguish between a grid or a generator. During a
power outage, the PV system will attempt to back feed a connected generator, thinking
that it’s the grid. This can cause damage to the generator and possibly fires or electrical
hazards. Careful consideration must be taken to isolate the solar system from the
generator.

There are two ways to accomplish this: One method is to connect the PV output circuit
to the utility side of the generator’s transfer switch. This ensures that when the grid
electricity is not available, the PV system doesn’t have a place to export, and shuts off.
The other method is to install a contactor on the PV output circuit. Basically, the
contactor (a large switch) shuts off the connection to the PV system when the
generator is running. Generac Smart Management Modules can be configured to
perform this task on Generac units.

These two simple isolation techniques can ensure that your two electrical generation
devices don’t cause thousands of dollars in damage to each other, the home, or its
occupants.