Hampshire Generators are the expert Generator Installation company based on the south coast – covering the whole of the United Kingdom – our experience and expertise ensures that your new generator installation is performed perfectly, on time and on budget.

We are dealers for some of the worlds best generator manufacturers which gives you peace mind that a large investment such as a standby generator will be selected, prepared, delivered, installed and commissioned by a company that knows exactly what it is doing.

Diesel Generator Installation

Installing a standby diesel generator is the only way to provide long running power protection to your business or residential premises.

Installing a standby diesel generator gives you the benefit of long term running but does give you a loss of power for a few seconds while the generator starts and becomes ready for the load. This is where installing an uninterruptible power supply becomes essential – a UPS will cover the power gap that will affect critical loads such as IT systems, servers and telecoms equipment. The Hampshire Generator and UPS Co designs, builds and installs full automatic generator / UPS systems in the UK, Ireland and beyond.

The Hampshire Generator & UPS Co can handle all aspects of installing a diesel generator:-

Generator Installation – Step 1) Customer Site Survey – Generator engineers will visit your site to establish your exact requirements – your total building load, type of load and how long you need the system to run the in the event of a power outage. It may be that you only need a few minutes to provide an orderly shutdown of your IT systems – then a UPS only installation would be probably be the best choice, Any longer than a few minutes and a diesel generator installation service would be best.

Generator Installation – Step 2) System Design – your generator installation requires careful design to ensure the systems work together (UPS and generators should be ‘matched’). We can then assist with drawings and schematics which may be required by the local planning authority.

Design options and installation considerations

Diesel Generator Installation Design Options

Open Diesel Generator Installation – for installation within a plant room or dedicated generator building. If the space and budget allows, this is the best way of having a generator installed. The room may need soundproofing and apertures will be required to provide a cooling air intake and discharge – louvres and sound-reducing attenuation equipment may be required to keep the ambient noise levels outside the room within acceptable levels. The combustion exhaust will also need to be routed to the outside through a suitable flue.

Acoustic Canopy Diesel Generator Installation – this is the most common option and provides a complete ‘packaged’ solution. The engine, alternator, control system and fuel tank are all built within a canopy that also reduces the noise. It is also possible to install canopy generators within a building though it is essential to consider air flows for cooling and exhaust flues. This type of generator installation normally has a noise level of 85dB(A) at 1m.

Special Build – Low Noise Level – In noise sensitive areas it may be essential to design a generator installation that requires a lower noise level than can be provided by a standard acoustic canopy – for example residential areas or hospital generator installations. In these instances HGUPS can design a generator installation that meets all the needs of the specific project.

Control System Requirements – A standard generator installation requires either manual or automatic start control module. For an automatic system an ATS (automatic transfer switch) is normally required. The ATS monitors the mains power and if it fails (or a single phase fails) it sends a start signal to the generator and transfers the load to the generator. When the mains power is restored the process happens again in reverse.

Generator Installation – Step 3) Generator Delivery and Installation – Generators and associated equipment should be installed by qualified and experienced generator engineers. Installations should always be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations.

Installation Considerations

Generator Location – as mentioned above – inside in a plant room is the perfect but no often possible. Outside the building is the most likely location and this should be away from public areas, fire escape routes, designated smoking areas and vehicle movement. Consideration should be given to access for maintenance and refuelling, security to prevent vandalism and the vicinity of water drains to prevent contamination.

Generator Delivery – generators can be large and heavy pieces of equipment so it is essential that the route to the proposed generator installation position is clear, big enough for a large vehicle and is stable enough to accept the weight. Be aware of any gravel or soft soil that a vehicle may encounter.

Generator Offloading – Unless the installation site has its own lifting equipment it will be necessary to arrange lifting equipment to offload and position the generator. A truck mounted crane (HIAB) is often used but it may be necessary to arrange a full contract lift.

Generator Mounting – A generator should be installed on a flat level surface. A concrete plinth is ideal but not essential. It should be secured to the surface with suitable anchors. Gravel should be avoided as the vibration of the generator will soon destabilise the surface.

Generator Ventilation and Cooling – generator engines produce fumes that are hazardous to health. It is important to make sure that there is enough ventilation to cool the generator and to remove excess fumes and heat produced through engine combustion.

Generator Fuel System – Most generator installations have a base frame mounted diesel fuel tank for approximately 8 hours. If you require a longer run time than this then we can assist with an external fuel tank connected to the generator that automatically tops up the built-in fuel tank.

UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY (UPS) INSTALLATION

UPS Installation – Installing a UPS is the only way to provide seamless and uninterrupted power to your IT facility. It is essential that a UPS installation is adequately planned so to not disrupt your business or IT systems for longer than is necessary.

The Hampshire Generator & UPS Co can handle all aspects of installing an Uninterruptible Power Supply:-

UPS System Installation – Step 1) Customer Site Survey – UPS engineers will visit your site to establish your exact requirements – your total building load, type of load and how long you need the system to run the in the event of a power outage. It may be that you only need a few minutes to provide an orderly shutdown of your IT systems – then a UPS only installation would be probably be the best choice, Any longer than a few minutes and a diesel generator installation service would be best.

UPS System Installation – Step 2) System Design – your UPS installation requires careful design to ensure the systems work together (UPS and generators should be ‘matched’). We can then assist with drawings and schematics. There are different types of UPS’s that are used for different applications.

UPS System Design Options: –

Offline UPS System – The off-line or standby UPS is the least common topology found today. It is a very inexpensive backup solution for personal computers used in the home or small office environment. It is available in output capacities from 100 VA to 3 kVA and will only provide basic battery backup and limited high-voltage transient protection.

Line interactive UPS System – The line-interactive UPS is the most commonly available. These devices range from inexpensive to moderately priced and are available in sizes from 100 VA up to 6 kVA. Typically designed to be used for backup and give limited power protection, they are primarily used for home and business-based computers, file-servers, and networks. In addition to battery backup and limited high-voltage transient protection, they offer limited output voltage regulation while being powered from the utility.

In the line-interactive design, utility power is fed to an auto-transformer having differing taps switched automatically by a utility voltage-sensing circuit. If the utility voltage drops too low, the transformer tap is switched to increase the UPS output voltage. If the utility voltage increases too high, another tap is selected to reduce the UPS output voltage.

Before the taps can be switched, most line-interactive designs require the UPS to switch to battery mode operation. After the tap-switch, the UPS then switches back to utility mode operation. Like the off-line UPS, when the utility and inverter switchover occurs, there is typically a 4 to 25-ms duration power loss at the output of the UPS.

In the line-interactive UPS, utility power is fed to an auto-transformer having differing taps that are switched automatically by a utility-voltage-sensing circuit.

The line-interactive UPS is not the best choice for a factory or industrial environment. Power-sensitive equipment would be connected directly to raw unconditioned utility power. Even though the UPS has basic output voltage regulation, the utility-voltage-sensing circuit can become a problem.

Additionally, the increased battery cycling of the line-interactive UPS results in greatly reducing battery life and costly unscheduled battery replacements. As with the off-line, the line-interactive UPS suffers from the same 4 to 25-ms output dropout, except the dropouts would be much more numerous due to the tap-switch regulation design.

Double Conversion On-line UPS System – The double conversion on-line UPS provides the highest level of power protection available. This UPS costs more than the line-interactive. They are available in sizes from 500 VA to well over 600 kVA. The on-line design provides a much higher level of power protection and is the best choice for protecting, networks, scientific, industrial, factory automation, military, aerospace, and other mission-critical equipment.

The on-line UPS uses active electronics to continuously regenerate new ac power while operating from both utility and battery sources. The incoming ac power is rectified to a regulated dc, removing voltage transients, noise, harmonics, and frequency-related problems. This regulated dc power is then used by the continuous duty inverter circuit to regenerate clean, new ac power. The output voltage regulation is a superior ±3%.

Incredibly, when operating from a utility or generator source, the ±3% output voltage regulation is maintained over the entire input 20% to 15% voltage range of the UPS. This provides total protection from sustained utility brownouts, overvoltage conditions, noise, transients, harmonics, and frequency drift. It is like installing a firewall between the sensitive equipment and the utility power.

Most on-line-UPS manufacturer’s ship their units configured with the UPS output frequency synchronized with the frequency of the incoming utility power. In applications where backup generator power is being used, this may not be desirable due to frequency instability problems inherent with some generators. Some UPS models provide a fixed output frequency. This prevents the frequency drift from passing through the on-line UPS.

As the on-line UPS incorporates a continuous-duty inverter circuit it can support extended or long-term battery-mode operation. Extended battery operation of up to several hours can be realized with the addition of extended battery bank options. Off-line and most line-interactive UPS designs use limited duty inverter circuitry and will not accept additional external battery banks.​

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Need expert advice?

Call us on 01329 277246 for the best advice on the way to protect your business with a generator installation.​

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