No matter where you live in the country, there's always the danger that a disaster could knock out the power to your business. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, and other disasters rarely happen on a convenient schedule. Fortunately, there are some new technologies that will help you keep your business running during outages while still being environmentally friendly.

More Efficient Generators

There are now fuel generators available that allow for more efficiency than ever before when it comes to having an option for running while off the grid. The tech involves small ceramic squares that fit in your hand. So, instead of having one large machine as a generator, you would just stack up a dozen plates together.

This technology runs on diesel, natural gas or propane. Instead of using the traditional combustion process to make energy, however, an electrochemical process is used instead. The beginning tests for the system are for businesses the size of a grocery store. The advantage to doing it this way is that you won't waste anything by generating too much power.

Since each of the tiles are small, you can stack up exactly as many as you need in order to only generate the right amount of power. This way, no space, power or resources are wasted. The estimate is that businesses using this approach would end up ahead of their initial investment after about two years.

Solar Satellite Dishes

One of the problems with using solar power for a standby generator is that the panels aren't very efficient. Even the most efficient traditional panels can only turn about 23% of the sunlight hitting them into electricity. Most systems only manage about 15%. New technological advances are pushing this rate up, however. It's now as high as 34% with newer systems.

This works by using large satellite dishes made of mirrors that can rotate to stay in the path of the sun as it moves across the sky throughout the day. So not only are they more efficient themselves, but they also get more sunlight than traditional panels.

The technology is still in its early stages of development, but it would be ideal for large businesses that live in sunny areas in the future. In fact, those that recommend this technology think that it could do far more than provide backup energy. The goal is to create a zero-emission environment where businesses could go off the grid altogether. For more information on generators, talk to a professional like Original Donnelly Heating Cooling & Electric.