Small residential systems that require a minimum of 10 feet vertical fall and 4 to 400 GPM flows are available. They provide DC power only, 12-100V, stored in batteries. Usually a natural gas engine is used. The waste heat from the engine exhaust and engine cooling water is used to heat or cool a building, provide hot water, or process steam. Buildings should be at least 50,000 square feet, have continuous operation, and balanced thermal and electrical needs.
Some utility companies offer financial incentives to install cogeneration systems.
Natural gas generators help reduce negative environmental effects by trimming the loads of public utility power plants that burn oil or coal. The use of daylighting, energy-efficient lamps and ballasts, and lighting controls reduces electrical loads, quantity of luminaires, maintenance, and cooling loads. The reduction in cooling loads may also translate into smaller cooling equipment on new installations. Reducing the ambient illumination levels to reduce costs, providing accent lighting to improve user comfort and add interest, and providing task lighting where it is needed improves the visual quality of a space. Proper application of efficient lamps is at the heart of lighting energy conservation.