Both standby and prime power generators are designed to give your business needed power in the event of an outage or other emergency, but there are slight differences in the meanings of the terms. A standby-rated unit can provide its nameplate power capacity for the duration of an outage, but load should exceed no more than 70% of the nameplate rating over the total course of use. In addition, a standby unit should not run for more than 500 hours a year.

A prime power unit is also capable of providing emergency power up to the nameplate rating, with the same 70% average load factor over the course of run time. But unlike a standby-rated unit, a prime-rated unit can run an unlimited number of hours per year. In addition, primate units are rated to exceed nameplate capacity by 10% in the case of an emergency (up to a maximum of one hour per 12 running hours and 25 max hours in a year).

For the unique needs of your business, though, the decision likely requires more factors and consideration. That’s where the Peterson Power project management team comes in. We’ll help you find the ideal Cat product for your operation!