In short. Power Insights is the Reddy Generators reading room, organised by the decision an engineer or facility manager has to make: how much capacity, how to keep critical loads up, how to maintain what is installed, how to bridge a temporary gap, and whether a change in technology or regulation affects the plant. Start from the question, pick the pathway, and treat every worked example as a method to apply, not a design to copy.
Start from the decision, not the equipment
Most generator problems arrive as an equipment question. Which kVA do I need, which make is better, should I rent or buy. Behind each of those sits a decision about load, continuity, cost or compliance, and the equipment answer only becomes clear once that decision is stated. The library is therefore arranged around five recurring decisions rather than around products. A plant electrical engineer in Hyderabad sizing a set for a new extension, a hospital facility manager reviewing changeover times, and a contractor planning six months of site power all enter at a different point and should not have to read the same material.
| Decision you need to make | Typical trigger | Pathway to read first |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | New load, new building, motor that will not start, frequent overload trips | Technical Articles on sizing, then the sizing tools |
| Continuity | UPS dropping load before the set takes over, nuisance transfers, a tender asking for N+1 | Technical Articles on transfer and redundancy |
| Maintenance and lifecycle | Rising fuel use, black smoke, an AMC renewal, an ageing controller | Engineering Notes on fuel and diagnostics |
| Temporary supply | Planned DISCOM shutdown, transformer failure, construction site, event | Rental Power Insights |
| Technology or regulation change | CPCB IV+ purchase, RECD retrofit notice, solar or battery proposal | Regulatory Updates and Energy Transition Insights |
What each pathway is for
Technical Articles
Structured explanations of one problem at a time: the governing principle, the inputs, the method, the assumptions and how to verify the result. An article on motor starting, for example, explains why a direct-on-line motor can demand six to seven times its running current, how that converts to starting kVA on a generator, and why the alternator’s transient reactance decides the voltage dip. It is the right place to learn a method you will apply more than once.
Engineering Notes
Short, focused calculations and design relationships. kW to kVA at a stated power factor, litres per hour to litres per kWh, cable voltage drop over a given run. A note answers one question with the units and boundary conditions made visible, so the result can be traced later when someone asks where a figure came from.
Rental Power Insights
Planning guidance for temporary supply: how long the hire really is, what sits around the generator (cables, distribution, fuel, earthing, changeover), how to compare two quotations on the same basis, and what to agree about extension and demobilisation before mobilising.
Regulatory Updates and Product and Capability Updates
These two pathways are deliberately separated from the technical guidance. A regulatory update identifies the issuing authority, the instrument and the dates, and keeps commentary distinct from the official text. A capability update says what is available or supported, for which equipment and under what conditions, and is published only when the evidence behind it has been reviewed. Dated claims live here, not inside articles, so an article does not go stale when a notification changes. See Product and Capability Updates.
Energy Transition Insights
How diesel generation, gas, batteries and solar combine for Indian industrial sites, starting from the demand profile rather than the technology label. Fuel intelligence, generator plus BESS screening and microgrid control belong here.
How to read a worked example without misusing it
Every worked example in the library is labelled illustrative and states its assumptions. The purpose is to show the method and the order of magnitude, not to hand over a number for your site. Before you carry a result across, check four things. First, the equipment: a transient voltage dip figure for one alternator frame does not apply to another. Second, the operating conditions: an example at 25 degrees ambient and sea level needs derating for a 45 degree summer afternoon in Telangana or a site at altitude. Third, the system boundary: a fuel cost per kWh is meaningless unless litres and kWh were measured over the same period at the same load. Fourth, the source: manufacturer data sheets have editions, and a regulation has a commencement date and transition provisions.
Where your application differs from the example, the conclusion may still hold, but it needs to be re-run with your inputs. The Technical Library holds the standards references, data sheet guidance and manuals the articles lean on, and the engineering tools let you repeat a calculation with your own figures.
Guidance versus announcement
Technical discussion, regulatory information and company news serve different purposes and are kept apart on purpose. A guide can explain a principle without establishing the design for a particular site. An announcement makes a dated claim that must be verifiable on the day it is published. Mixing the two produces the kind of page where a sizing method sits next to a stock claim that was true two years ago. No article listings, project results or capability claims appear in the library without review, and anything that depends on a date carries that date.
Using the library for a real site
A practical sequence for a new requirement is to read the article that frames the decision, run the related tool with measured or specified inputs, note which inputs were assumed, and then bring that record to a technical discussion. An engineer who arrives with a load list, a largest-motor rating, the required voltage and phase, the duty (standby or prime), site photographs and the known constraints gets a useful answer in one conversation. One who arrives with a kVA figure copied from a brochure usually gets a list of questions. The library exists to shorten that list.
If the guidance does not answer your question, describe the equipment or the requirement and the decision you are trying to make, and include whatever records you have, even if they are incomplete. Starting from facts beats starting from an assumed rating.
Common mistakes
- Copying a worked example’s answer rather than its method; the figure was computed for different equipment and conditions and the set is mis-sized.
- Reading an old regulatory article as current advice; a commencement date or an amendment has since changed the requirement.
- Comparing two generators by litres per hour; the one burning less fuel may be carrying far less load and cost more per kWh.
- Treating a capability announcement as a quotation; stock, lead time and configuration change, and only a written offer commits.
- Skipping the load inventory and going straight to the catalogue; the discussion restarts from the beginning when the starting loads come to light.
What to send us
If a guide raises a question about your own plant, send the decision you are trying to make, the generator nameplate photograph if a set already exists, your load list or single-line diagram, and the records you have such as fuel logs, service reports or fault descriptions. State which figures are measured and which are estimates. Contact Reddy Generators and tell us which article prompted the question so the discussion can start from the right place.
Questions engineers ask
Can I use the sizing guidance here instead of a load study?
You can use it to prepare for one and to sanity-check a proposal. For a new installation, a motor-heavy load or a critical facility, a load study with measured data and the actual equipment characteristics is still needed, because the guidance cannot know your alternator reactance, motor starting method or site derating.
Are the articles specific to India?
Yes. They assume 415 V three-phase and 230 V single-phase at 50 Hz, CPCB emission norms, CEA regulations, IS and IEC standards, DISCOM supply behaviour and high ambient temperatures. Where a principle is universal it is stated as such.
How often is the content reviewed?
Technical articles are reviewed when a standard, a product generation or field experience changes the recommendation. Regulatory and capability updates carry their date and are checked against the controlling source before publication.
Why are prices and models not given in the guides?
Because they change, and a page that quotes a price or a model becomes misleading quickly. Technical guidance explains how to choose; a written quotation states what is offered.
Where do I find the calculators?
Each article links to the related engineering tool, and the Technical Library lists them by topic. Use the tool with your own inputs after reading the method so you know which assumptions you are making.
Technical content reviewed by Srinivas Reddy, Managing Partner, Reddy Generators. Last updated 19 October 2026.