Jeff Benton at Hooked on Power has recently undertaken the first real-time test of their new hybrid generator setup, which smartly integrates a battery unit into the generator system. The results are outstanding! And provide an indication of both emission and cost savings which can be achieved through utilising this new technology.
The hybrid generator system in the test included a 110 kW generator, smartly hooked up to a 34 kWh battery storage unit and inverter. When the battery gets low, or in periods of high demand, the generator kicks in to recharge the battery or supply the high load. The result is efficiency of generator use by reducing surplus unused power.
Over a total of 128 hrs from system start to stop, the diesel generator ran for 62 hrs, meaning 66 hrs, or 52% of the time, the system operated entirely from battery power.
Assuming that the generator had been running for those 66 hrs at a quarter of its full load, and consuming 7 litres per hour, a conservative estimation for the amount of fuel saved is 462 litres. At the current fuel cost of $2.40 per litre, this equates to $1,109 of savings on fuel across the period, or $1,462 per week of use.
Equally impressive are the carbon emission reductions. A saving of 462 litres of diesel means 1.531 tons of CO2e not being introduced to the atmosphere. These are incredible results and show a clear business case for the use of hybrid generators in screen productions with Aotearoa.
Here is a diagram of how the system works.
