Introducing Linear Generators to the Rapidly Evolving DER Landscape

For the past 20 years, engines, turbines and fuel cells have been the primary technologies used by the fuel-based distributed generation (DG) market. But the push to renewables such as solar photovoltaics and battery energy storage in recent years is driving the market to provide more flexible and dispatchable DG solutions. Linear generators, which are a new category of clean, distributed power generation, can provide those solutions with both lower costs and lower carbon emissions than other alternatives.

A new white paper from Mainspring Energy explores how affordable, fuel-flexible and low emissions on-site generators can fill key commercial and utility resource gaps. The paper explains what linear generators are and compares their value proposition to that of traditional fuel-based generation options including engines and gensets, microturbines and fuel cells.

The authors also discuss use cases for linear generators for three key markets: behind-the-meter commercial and industrial customers, front-of-the-meter utility substation and wider grid support, and microgrids. They also show what the serviceable addressable market size is for linear generators in those same key market segments.