Northern Lights diesel gensets are the way to go, if the climate allows. I have some out there that are 28 years old. The generating ends are starting to fail but the engines could easily last another 10 years. I know you are looking for propane but I am always so impressed with NL and their support staff that I can't help but bring them up whenever we are talking generators.
Lou Russo Owner [email protected] Office - 808 345 6762 Direct Line - 808 731 1907 Spree Solar Systems LLC CT-34322 On Wed, Sep 2, 2026 at 4:53 AM Blair May <[email protected]> wrote: > We use the Northern lights diesel gens small 1800 rpm Water cooled. When > ordering they do offer a 2 wire module that makes things a nicer install. > Tump > > Blair "Tump" May > > On Wed, Sep 2, 2026, 8:28 AM Dana Orzel <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I totally agree designing a solar system with ample PV and a balanced >> amount of batteries is the best way to proceed however, two weeks of clouds >> in mountainoussnow Country - South Central Idaho and you need a generator. >> I only ran six hours on mine last winter & 15 hours total for 12 months of >> the prior year but finding a decent water cooled 1800 RPM propane generator >> has become more and more difficult. personally I have a 20 KW that came out >> of mine in Colorado many years ago and continues to function perfectly. >> Sent from my iPad >> >> > On Sep 1, 2026, at 7:04 PM, Zeke Yewdall <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> > >> > North Star Logistics shows a number of options for 15kW diesel >> generators -- 1800rpm water cooled. I have not used any of them, because I >> do not generally use diesel generators (because of the difficulty cold >> starting under AGS control). If you're in a warmer climate, they might be >> an option. Cummins also has the CD15D6 diesel. I don't know of any small >> 1800rpm water cooled propane ones any more except the wildcat ones I just >> saw recently... and I guess they aren't really a thing. >> > >> > My approach recently has been to design the PV array such that I'm >> doing very few generator run time hours annually, such that I don't wear >> out a 3600rpm air cooled option too fast... trying for well under 100 hours >> generator run time per year. With the decreasing cost of PV it's becoming >> much easier to do that -- oversizing the array (but... ground mount racking >> almost always costs a lot more than the PV modules nowadays). But it does >> still depend heavily on your climate and the customer whether thats a >> possibility. >> > >> > Zeke >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> > >> > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >> > >> > List Address: [email protected] >> > >> > Change listserver email address & settings: >> > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> > >> > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try >> the other: >> > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> > >> > List rules & etiquette: >> > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> > >> > Check out or update participant bios: >> > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >> >> List Address: [email protected] >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >> other: >> https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >
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