Users Guide

Power Solutions Center

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 Disclaimer

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Information in this publication represents data available at the time of print. Kohler Co. reserves the right to
change this publication and the products represented without notice and without any obligation or liability
whatsoever.

Computer Technical Requirements

Your choice of computers to operate this application requires a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768,
within Windows 7.0 operating system.

Technical Support
For assistance with the KPS Power Solutions Center, please contact us at PowerSolutionsCenter@kohler.com
or contact us via telephone at 1-800-544-2444.

Navigation Tools

Click down arrow and select an item in the list of choices

Click up or down arrow to increase or decrease value

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Table of Contents
1. Start Up & Navigation ........... 3
Login, Updates & Password
User Defaults

2. Your Projects ............................... 8

Project Options

3. Load Profile 12
Default Generator
Components Tool Bar
Genset Settings Customization Panel

4. Select Genset .... 18

Report

5. Additional Tools .............................. 20

Report

6. Create Spec ...... 22

7. Additional Information 23

Introductory Statement: This Users Guide is intended to provide firm support and instruction on the use of the
Power Solutions Center software interface. The analysis provided from Power Solutions Center are for reference
only. The installer must work with the local distributor and technician to confirm actual requirements when
planning the installation.

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 1. Start Up & Navigation
When Starting the Power Solutions Center, you will be prompted to enter your Login and Password, as shown
below. The criteria for each entry can be found by hovering over the question mark icons to the right of each
input box.
o Login: Login must be between 3 and 20 characters, with no special symbols, characters, or spaces.
o Password: Password must be between 8 and 30 characters, with at least one digit and one letter.

You may click on

the version to view
last updates.

After entering your Login and Password criteria successfully, click the Enter button with your cursor or press
the Enter/Return key on your keyboard.
o If you have forgotten your password and need a reminder, or need to reset your password, click the
Forgotten password link.

o If you do not have a Login and Password, click the New Account link.

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 1. Start Up & Navigation Program Updates
While you Login an Updater dialog window may appear. See window graphic below. This utility displays
available updates. Select the Update button to install only the first update on the list. Select Full Update to install
all updates. Close as needed.
A separate window will appear confirming the successful update has been completed.

1. Start Up & Navigation Forgotten Password

If youre coming back to the Power Solutions Center and have forgotten your password, you will be directed to
the Forgotten Password screen, as seen below.

The Forgotten password page will prompt you for the email address that you assigned to your account.
Enter your email and click the Submit button or press the Enter/Return key on your keyboard.
From this page, the Power Solutions Center will send an email to the email address given (the one used to
login to your account) with the necessary account information to successfully login.

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 1. Start Up & Navigation New User

If you are new to the Power Solutions Center and would like to set up a new Login and Password, you will be
directed to the New User page, as seen below.

In order to create a New User profile, you must enter the following criteria:
o Login: Login must be between 3 and 20 characters, with no special symbols, characters, or spaces.
o Password: Password must be between 8 and 30 characters, including at least one digit and one
letter.

o Email: Email must be a valid address to activate your account.

o First Name: Users first name
o Last Name: Users last name
o Language (dropdown): English, Espanol, Portugues, Francais
After completing each of the items, click the Submit button with your cursor or press the Enter/Return button
on your keyboard.

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 1. Start Up & Navigation User Defaults
After navigating to the User Defaults page, you can begin to add personal/specific information to the areas
displayed below.

There are 5 sections of User defaults that can be customized to your requirements.
o Profile (Personal information): First name, Last name, Company name, Job Title, Email, Phone,
Language, Country, Address, City, State, Zip

o Electrical (Electrical specifications): Voltage, Phase, Frequency, Alt. Temp. Rise/Duty, Qty
o Engine (Engine specifications): Fuel type, Genset Application, Max Load %, Min Load %
o Site (Location of facility): Country, Application, Unit, Altitude (ft), Max ambient temp. (F)
o Requirements (Generator specifications): ISO 8528, Voltage dip (%), Frequency dip (%), Harmonic
distortion (%), Seismic, UL 2200, CSA
o
o Other (Account information): Account Activation, Default Project Path, Change Password
Each of the sections corresponds to other tabs throughout the program. After entering the details, your User
defaults will display within each project created.

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 1. Start Up & Navigation User Defaults
After creating your User Default page as a new user, you can update your profile by accessing the User Default
at any time.
To access and edit your User Default page, click the dropdown arrow next to your name at the top right of the
program window.

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 2. Your Projects Project Options
After your project settings have been set (default or new), and your projects have been saved, you will be
directed to the Projects page upon start up. From the Projects page, below, you can navigate to or from an
existing project as well as save or send a project.
The Projects page can be accessed at any time, you may do so by clicking the Projects tab at the left of the
program screen, as shown below.

In addition to the options displayed above, after you create a new project, the project (displaying the name,
date saved, and document path) will be displayed below the Most recent saved projects section on the page
(double click to open). Simply click on the project name to open the saved file.

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 2. Your Projects Start a New Project
After your user profile is created, you can create, update, manage and delete as many projects as you need.
To create a new project, you can either use the default settings you set or you can set parameters for a new
project. The New project page, as seen below, has all of the same criteria as the User Default page.

When setting up a new project, you are required to enter specific information about your project that will be
used through the life of the project. The required fields are as follows:
o Project name: A customizable field that will be used to identify the specific project. The content in this
field will be used when saving the project, will be displayed on reports, and used to identify the project.

o Customer name: A customizable field that will be used to identify the customer/recipient/owner of the
project. The content in this field will be used in reports and to identify the project.

o Customer contact: A customizable field that will allow you to identify the customer contact information
of this project. The content in this field will be used in reports and as a resource for project
administrators/editors/etc.

The User name, Start date, and Last update are automatically filled in for the user.

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 2. Your Projects Open Existing Project
When you click the Open Existing Project option in the Projects tab, a file directory window will appear that will
allow you to navigate to and select the file youve already created/saved. In order to open an existing project,
you must have created and saved a project to your C drive (or other local drive) on your computer.
After youve selected the saved project, it will appear in the Load Profile tab.

2. Your Projects Edit Current Project

Before you can edit a project, you must create a new project or open an existing one. When you click on the
Edit current project option in the Projects tab, you will be directed to the Project Settings page. After your
edits/changes have been made, click the Submit button to save the changes or Cancel to ignore them. To
navigate back to your project, select the Load Profile tab.

2. Your Projects Save

To save your current project, you can navigate to the Projects tab and click on the Save button.
Otherwise, you can click the Save icon at the top of the page.

2. Your Projects Save As

To save a current project under a different name, click the Save As tab on the Projects tab. After selecting
this option, a file directory window will appear, allowing you to change the name and file location of your
current project.

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 2. Your Projects Download Project
If you choose to save your projects to the cloud, you can retrieve them by clicking the Download Project option
in the Projects tab. After selecting this option, you will be directed to the cloud where you will be able to
search, find, and select the desired project and download it to your local drive/machine.

2. Your Projects Upload Project

After creating and making changes to your project, you can choose to upload the actual opened project to the
cloud so you (and others) will be able to open it from another device. After selecting this option, a local file
directory will appear allowing you to select the desired project to upload to the cloud.

2. Your Projects Send Project

After creating and making changes to your current project, you will be able to send a copy of the current
project to another registered account. After selection this option, a window will prompt you to enter the email
address of the registered account holder you wish to send the project to.

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 Load Profile Default Generator
3.
The Power Solutions Center allows you to create a custom power system that will meet your facility needs.
The Load Profile tab is a drag-and-drop type of interface, starting with a default generator in place. Starting
with a 3-Phase generator (or a 1-Phase generator selected in profile defaults), you can add electrical elements
to your system by selecting the element from the Component Tool Bar. To add loads you can drag-and-drop
the element type on top of the pre-positioned generator element (See figure below).

Component
Tool Bar

Generator

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 3. Load Profile Component Tool Bar

In order to start customizing your power system, you will need to add the different components that will be
found in your facility and/or will be dependent upon your new generator. To customize your power system
simply click, drag-n-drop (with your cursor) your desired component(s) from the Component Tool Bar, on top of
the generator.

Below are the definitions of each component shown on the Component Tool Bar:

Lighting Loads: Incandescent, Florescent, HID (high-intensity discharge), or LED. In addition to

lamp wattages, ballast types, and starting and running power factors should be considered.

Battery Charger Loads: A non-linear load requiring an oversized alternator based on the number
of rectifiers. Typically found in telecommunications systems.

Office Equipment: Computer(s), Printer(s)/Copier(s), Fax Machine(s), Paper Shredder(s),

Telephone(s), etc.

Misc. Linear Load.

Misc. Non-Linear Load: Loads that change often resulting in spikes on the AC power. You may
want to oversize the generator if these loads are expected.

UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply): A battery charger to maintain power in a bank of batteries,
in the event of a power outage.

Medical Equipment: These include CAT scan, MRI, and X-ray equipment. The generator set
should be sized to limit voltage dip to 10 percent, or less, when operating with other loads running.

Welder (Welding Equipment): Station(s), Welding Machine(s), Power Supplies, Jig(s), Fixture(s),
Rectifiers, manual electrodes, welding torches, etc.

Motor: Electric motors specify size.

Air Conditioner: Central heating/air system, window units, fans, portable, etc.

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 Fire Pump: Starting and operating a fire pump that is connected to a water supply, or a static water
source.

Elevator: Operating a lift that could either be lifting product and/or people.

ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch): Critical switching components of an emergency or standby

power system. Transfer switches transfer essential loads and electrical distribution systems from
one power source to another.

Transformer: A component for reducing or increasing the voltage of an alternating voltage source.
The typical transformer initial electrical surge, when first activated, is not calculated within this
program at this time.

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 3. Load Profile Genset Settings Customization Panel
As you add each component to your power system, you can customize them to fit your needs. To do this,
navigate to the Genset Settings Customization Panel, as shown below.

o Properties: Choose the settings that will

best work for your application. You can do
this with each added component, including
the generator.

o Steps: Displays the breakdown of which

components fall into which steps.

o Report: Prints a copy of the one line

diagram.

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 3. Load Profile Genset Settings Customization Panel Properties
The Properties tab shown on the Load Profile page allows you
to update/edit specific components of your power system.
Each of the fields shown in the Properties tab, although not all
are required, need to have a value in place.
The example shown (to the right) is for the properties of the
generator (Generator set).

Select the individual dropdown arrows for more options:

o Voltage: Voltage produced by the generator.

o Phase: Select either Single Phase or 3-Phase requirement.

o Frequency: 50 Hertz or 60 Hertz dependent upon the

installation.

o Alt. Temp. Raise/Duty: Expected system temperature rise

above ambient for the alternator.

o Qty: Number of generators used/needed in system.

o Application: The area/building where the power system will

be used.

o Altitude: Based on the site location, the size of the

generator set must increase for a given level of
performance as the altitude rises.

o Max ambient temp.: Based on the site location, the size of

the generator set must increase for a given level of
performance as the ambient temperature rises.

o ISO 8528: The design and performance criteria arising out

of the combination of an Internal Combustion engine and an
Alternating Current generator when operating as a unit,
shown in G1, G2 and G3 levels.

o Voltage dip (%): As you reduce the maximum allowable

voltage dip, during initial startup, when loads cycle under
automatic controls or when high peak loads operate, you
need to increase the size of the generator set specified.
Choosing lower allowable voltage dip requires a larger
generator set.

o Frequency dip (%): As you reduce the maximum allowable

frequency dip, you need to increase the size of the overall
generator set needed.

o Harmonic distortion (%): Harmonic distortion is generated

by non-linear loads and will affect all loads connected to
that circuit.

o Fuel type: The performance and type of fuel available for

gas, diesel, or LP will affect generator set choices.
Emergency systems typically must be supplied by fuel
stored locally.

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 3. Load Profile Genset Settings Customization Panel Properties

o Min Load %: Running a generator set under light load can

lead to engine damage, reducing reliability. We recommend
not running your power system lower than 30% of your
rated load.

o Max Load %: Establishing the maximum load to prevent

damage to the generator set.

o Seismic: Comply with seismic building requirement codes

needed?

o UL 2200: Generator assemblies rated 600 volts or less that

are intended for installation and use in ordinary locations, in
accordance with the National Electrical Code NFPA 70.

o CSA: Compliance with Canadian Standards Association

needed?

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 4. Select Genset

After you have fully customized each component in your power system, click on the Select Genset tab to view
each of the compatible generators, as seen below.

Click the button to view the optimum generator set line (green line) from the Select Genset
list

When you click on a specific genset, the Load Requirements and Performance specifications will be displayed.
Any item that is in red will not comply with your requested specifications.

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 4. Select Genset - Report

To create a Summary, Detailed, or Single Line

Diagram Report, highlight a line from the Select

genset list, and click the button.

Choose the Report setting, and after clicking the
Submit button, a Save As window will appear that will
allow you to navigate and save the report in MS Word
format.

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 5. Additional Tools
With the Genset selected, additional parameters can be set to establish the environment the system will be
deployed into, and allow you to configure the exhaust system, input fuel pipe sizing caluculations for gaseous
systems, and also select the optimum room size for proper and safe operation.

o Additional Tool Settings: Enter values for Altitude and Max. ambient temp. Use the dropdown
boxes to change Voltage, Phase, Frequency, Alt. Temp. Rise/Duty, Fuel Type, Genset Application.

o Exhaust System Piping Calculator: Use the dropdown box to change the default genset model.
Exhaust values will change accordingly. User Inputs allow you to change silencer type, pipe length,
and quantity of bends.

o Pipe Sizing Calculator for Gaseous Systems: Use the dropdown box to change the default genset
model, inlet fuel pressure, and gas type. User Inputs allow you to change pipe length, quantity of
bends, tees, unions, and valves.

o Genset Room Size Calculator: Use the dropdown box to change the default genset model. Room
dimension values will change accordingly.

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 5. Additional Tools - Report

A report is available for each calculator. After entering the values, click the button. A Save As
window will appear that will allow you to navigate and save the report in MS Word format.

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 6. Create Specification
Create a specification for the overall system. Select Device Type Generator or Transfer Switch.

Click when complete. A specification is created in MS Word format.

Generator Inputs

o Generator: Use the dropdown boxes to change the preset values.

o Generator Features: Use the dropdown boxes to choose Generator Components, Circuit Breakers.

o Accessories: Select appropriate check boxes.

o Enclosures and Fuel Tanks: Use the dropdown boxes to choose Components and System
Warranty.

o Options: Select appropriate check boxes.

Transfer Switch Inputs

o ATS Info: Use the dropdown boxes to build a Kohler Model Transfer Switch.

o Accessories: Select appropriate check boxes.

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 7. Additional Information
This section of Power Solution Center puts you in contact with Kohler Power Systems experts and a library of
technical documents.

Three screens are as follows:

o Request a Quote: Send the generator set selection information and your contact information to your
local Kohler Power Systems Distributor. Add comments in the Remarks box. Click Submit request
for quote to complete.

o Request Additional Information: To submit questions and comments to your local Kohler Power
Systems Distributor, enter text in the box. Click Submit request for additional information to
complete.

o Technical Documents: Links to resources to assist you with system design and configuration. Click
the link to connect to:
o Model specific technical documents specification sheets and dimension drawings.
o Building Information Modeling. Simplified CAD models in AutoDesks BIM Revit program.
o Kohler Power Systems website www.KohlerPower.com.
o Kohler Power Systems Learning Academy, your web-based training portal.

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E 2015 by Kohler Co. All rights reserved.
KOHLER CO. Kohler, Wisconsin 53044
Phone 920-457-4441, Fax 920-459-1646
For the nearest sales/service outlet in the
US and Canada, phone 1-800-544-2444
KOHLERPower.com
Kohler Power Systems
Asia Pacific Headquarters
7 Jurong Pier Road
Singapore 619159
Phone (65) 6264-6422, Fax (65) 6264-6455