(upbeat music) Could these unassuming green shipping containers really be the future of electricity generators? (upbeat music) This company, 15 kilometres north of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, are changing the way we think about onsite power generation. And why did Victron Energy HQ need to use one at the start of 2024? (pleasant music) Green Generators are a hybrid system that can be used and deployed in the field as a backup system, or as a primary energy load system. Basically, in any position where you don't have a grid connection, that's where you can actually place the machine and then have power where needed. It's a very practical concept with plenty of real world applications. Where they would be used? Well, along roadside construction, where grid power is simply not available. Along the side of festival systems, because it's an open field and they don't want to rip the field open just to make a connection so that there's power. Inside cities, where the demolishing work is going and there's simply not available power, or not enough available power, that's where our system come into play. (upbeat music) The Green Generators were set up in Zuidoostbeemster, and has a team of 16 (in Netherlands) developing and manufacturing up to 10 generators a year, with 33 units already in global use. Their mission is to innovate, creating small, powerful systems housed in compact cabinets. (upbeat music) Basically, the system runs on a battery, and the batteries through the inverter outside of output power. And solar power's adding to that battery power. If there's not enough battery power, then there's a generator available on the side, which will feed the batteries until they're entirely full, and then the generator shut off automatically again. (pleasant music) We have a standard issue with solar, that's a 1600 watts complete panel with six panels. And then we have a generator for the 30 kVA models. These are smaller ones, they have three 10 kVA Quattros, and they carry a 600 Ah battery pack. And then we have a larger system, it's a 45 model. They have a 60 kVA generator, but a three times 15 kVA Quattro inside them, along with a larger battery pack. A typical house, on a socket outlet in a normal European standard house, would be a four and a half kVA output at a maximum of 3.2 kilowatts. In generator terms, kVA is only a generated power that we convert to kilowatts, because that's the actual power that we use. The system can also be used domestically in the event of grid failure. We have available systems that can be used in a household situation, where the actual system provides a sort of a backup power. As soon as power goes down off the grid, then the system will automatically pick up and take over, keeping the entire house alive basically while the grid is still offline. (pleasant music) And there's one feature that makes this system quite different to other renewable generator options. The main advantage of our system is we place it down, we turn it on, but the generator does not turn on. The availability of our generator is only necessary when the batteries are almost empty. So the generator only starts when it's needed, and not when it's just running, burning diesel, and creating CO2 for no reason. In short, the big bonus for customers with this system is avoiding paying for diesel. And also the reduction in CO2, while still producing the same amount of power. The system has been on the market since 2016, and we have simply expanded our business procedure. So we're trying to innovate in making things smaller, and at the same time keep it just as powerful. Or make them bigger, but make them also a lot more powerful than they are. The biggest unit the Green Generators currently manufacture is a 90 kVA multi-parallel three-phase system, which also includes a backup generator that can regenerate the battery's capacity, if needed, at 110 kVA. All this impressive innovation has come from about through the help from Victron Energy. (upbeat music) The main advantage of using Victron is, apart from the plentiful availability, is that their support is good. And comparably, the price is right, because there's simply no other alternatives on the market with the same specs that can be done in the same way. Victron was one of the few key players at the moment that when we started was available on the market, and plentiful available in comparison to other parties. Victron was just simply the the main choice for it, due to having all the options available that we were seeking. And Victron was one of the few key players that did offer the option for switching between the generator and the inverters. (upbeat music) And like all Victron Energy systems, the generator can be monitored remotely via an app to identify issues before they can cause disruption. We use the normal Victron Energy remote portal. We also have our own portal built into the system, so that we can generate data about what the generator's doing, about what solar is doing, but also how the Quattros are behaving. (pleasant music) At the start of 2024, several areas around the Victron Energy headquarters building in Almere, Netherlands, had their power disconnected so the electricity transformers and distribution huts could receive maintenance. With computer equipment and offices required to maintain electricity, we ourselves turned to Green Generators. A new generator input was created in the power plant room of the building. On the morning of the power maintenance cutoff, before the grid disconnected, the generator was plugged into the input, turned on, and the site was switched from grid to generator. As the Green Generator mainly runs on batteries, unlike a neighbouring telecom switch room generator, it was silent for large parts of the afternoon. Only when the system ran below a certain state of charge did the generator automatically turn on. It ran at the most efficient rate for a short period to top up the batteries, and then turned off. The Green Generators hope their compact units can find many more applications, and help more clients across the globe. One company that wanted to reduce their use of a generator was the River Exe Cafe in England. Check out this floating on water cafe by clicking the link. (upbeat music)
