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An Overview of the Various Generators for Sale

While humans have managed for millennia without them, electricity and the means to produce it have become indispensable in most aspects of our day-to-day lives. At home, it is used to power illumination, climate control, cooking, refrigeration, communication, and entertainment, while our nation’s industries have hundreds if not thousands of tasks that, without it, would, at best, be difficult and time-consuming and, at worst, totally impossible.

The first electrical generators for sale were batteries, and relied on the action of chemicals to create the flow of current. Still in use today, some must be disposed of once their chemical reaction has completed, while others, such as those that provide power for our cars and mobile phones, can be recharged using power from alternative sources, in these examples, from an alternator or a wall socket, respectively.

Though the first working alternator was produced, albeit inadvertently, by a French instrument maker, in 1832, it was a further thirty years before the dynamo, invented a year earlier by Michael Faraday and which, by contrast, could produce an uninterrupted stream of direct current, finally became the first type of electrical generator to be offered for sale as a reliable replacement for the battery.

Current is produced as the result of the interaction between a moving magnetic field and a conductor, typically a copper coil. In a process known as electromagnetic induction, electrons in the conductor are induced to move in a stream creating a flow of current in the opposite direction. To maintain the movement of the magnetic field, an external force is required. For short periods, a hand crank would suffice, but for long-term use, the motion of running water was often employed for this purpose until the steam engine became widely available. Even today, water power is still used to drive the turbines needed to turn over the vastly more powerful modern generators destined for sale to hydroelectric schemes in Africa and elsewhere around the globe.

Alternating current now accounts for the bulk of the national power supplies in most countries and, following the eventual perfection of the alternator and the resolution of the infamous “war of the currents” between Edison and Tesla, this has become the most widely used device for producing electricity. The most significant difference between one such device and the next is the type of engine used to drive it. Where power is required on an industrial scale, several units will often be required to meet the peak demand. However, almost without exception, it will be a diesel engine that powers the generators designed for sale to heavy industries, such as vehicle manufacturing, mining, and construction.

While concerns about carbon emission from petrol engines have led to stringent emission controls, the more toxic nitrogen oxides in diesel exhaust have only recently begun drawing serious attention. Concerns about emissions have prompted the investigation of cleaner-burning fuels and, at least, in some commercial locations, diesel-driven alternators are now being abandoned in favour of more eco-friendly models powered either by propane or natural gas. There can be little doubt, however, that although they are never going to be among the generators suitable for sale to the vast majority of end-users, those driven by the wind or the power of the waves will, over time, contribute to efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.

That said, coal-fired power stations are still Eskom’s largest source of power, and it may soon need to follow the example of private power producers by exploiting solar power. We are especially blessed with sunlight, as well as having vast areas of empty space in which to locate large-scale solar farms. While the investment may be high, the dividends could be immense. Solar panels have no moving parts to wear out, and require little maintenance beyond cleaning. These clean, silent, and efficient generators are for sale to industrial, commercial, and residential consumers.