Patent ID: 8866344

Claim:
A system of paralleling engine-generators on a common bus, said system comprising: a plurality of engine-generators, each of said engine-generators including an output having an alternating current voltage; a plurality of circuit breakers, each of said circuit breakers being between the output of a corresponding one of said engine-generators and said common bus; a plurality of automatic voltage regulators, each of said automatic voltage regulators comprising a first mode in which field excitation for a corresponding one of said engine-generators is controllable and a second mode in which the alternating current voltage of the output of said engine-generators is automatically controlled; and a processor for said plurality of automatic voltage regulators, said processor being structured to start the engine-generators, close said circuit breakers, cause a plurality of said automatic voltage regulators to increase the field excitation for the corresponding one of said engine-generators in the first mode as long as less than a predetermined current flows through a corresponding one of said circuit breakers until the field excitation brings outputs of said engine-generators to a rated voltage, and responsively cause a plurality of said automatic voltage regulators to automatically control the alternating current voltage of the output of the corresponding one of said engine-generators in the second mode, and, otherwise, to decrease the field excitation of the corresponding one of said engine-generators in the first mode.