Gary Olson has been an employee of Cummins Power Generation since 1977. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.
Transfer switches are at the heart of an emergency power system, providing a dependable power transfer between the utility and emergency standby generator, or between other types of power sources and facility loads. When the normal power source fails (usually the utility), transfer switches detect the loss of power, send a start signal to the standby generator and then connect the generator to the facility’s loads when the generator has achieved proper frequency and voltage. In cases of utility failure when the emergency power source is not operating, electrical service to a facility’s loads will be lost for a period of approximately 10 seconds while the generator set starts - unless there is an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) serving loads in the system to bridge the power gap while the generator set starts, reaches the proper parameters, and the automatic transfer switch transfers.