Generator Remote Monitoring

Back-up power systems are becoming an essential part of most businesses nowadays as our electricity supplies become increasingly less reliable. More companies everyday are investing in Generators & Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) to ensure their businesses keep running or their data isn't lost in the event of power failure.

A power cut in the UK is now becoming an inevitable occurrence and it has become critical for businesses to not only have a back-up power system but to have as many assurances as possible that this system is going to do what it’s designed to when called upon. Having a reliable contractor in place to maintain the systems is the first step to assurance the next stage many are turning to is 24/7 remote monitoring. Stationary generators routinely check themselves and display any issues on their control panels, but what if there’s a problem while you’re away?

There are many options available today for remote monitoring depending upon individual budgets and requirements. PPS's new generator installations now include advanced systems as standard that can offer simple SMS alerts to more advanced desktop monitoring and control. Working out what solution is right for your business starts with a simple checklist

• What do I need automatic alerts for:
  • The generator has started due to power failure?
  • The generator has stopped?
  • Low fuel levels or potential fuel theft alarm?
• What do I need to be able to do remotely:
  • Starting or stopping the generator?
  • Check the status of the set?
  • Check location with mobile sets?
• What reports are useful:
  • Advanced hours run report i.e. when and how long
  • Fuel consumption
  • Alarm history and reset reports

Successful installations PPSPower has been involved with include a multi-site contract where the back-up power systems were in difficult to reach locations and were so critical that monthly manned visits were the norm. Installing remote monitoring meant the monthly visits from an engineer were no longer a necessity as the condition and state could be determined remotely. Engineers would now only be sent for preventative maintenance or when we were alerted by the monitoring system. This obviously reduced the overall contract cost considerably and gave the client better assurances on reliability.

Being able to remotely monitor sets that are run as a prime set (all day everyday) can be extremely beneficial for many reasons. As a service & maintenance company we are able to monitor the generator sets on behalf of the client and plan maintenance based on actually hours run ensuring the maintenance costs are as efficient as possible. You can monitor key generator performance metrics like - total energy produced, energy produced per litre of fuel and power quality. If performance falls, you can take timely actions to bring performance back to acceptable level. It’s possible to manage multiple sets from a single platform on a computer anywhere in the world.

Whatever your needs are for monitoring your back-up power systems there is a solution that meets your budget and requirements. As with anything in business if you want to see improvements you need to measure the results.