While the North American portable power market has traditionally focused on commercial applications, there exists considerable potential in the homeowner and small industrial sectors. Demand for portable power solutions is likely to increase as consumer awareness levels rise and price-to-performance ratio improves, creating strong potential for significant market growth.

Frost & Sullivan (www.energy.frost.com) found that North American Portable Power Market earned revenues between $630.0 million and $660.0 million in 2006, and estimates the potential to be as high as $700.0 million to $900.0 million.

Increasing incidences of power outages in North America is the key driver for the portable generator set market, as people no longer take electricity for granted and are seeking solutions to manage such situations. While this presents a substantial market opportunity, limited levels of product awareness restrain market growth.

“Portable generators continue to have a relatively low profile, when compared to other products for the home and garden,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Shreyas Rajan. “Manufacturers need to determine how best to increase consumer interest and knowledge of portable generators.”

Consumers give low importance to generators because they consider them substitute products. On the other hand, other types of equipment used in the home and garden such as lawn mowers, garden tractors and snow blowers are used for specific purposes on an ongoing rather than occasional basis, and are therefore considered essential purchases.

Thus, consumers tend to be better informed about the selection and operation of such products, compared to generators. This makes it imperative for manufacturers to raise the profile of portable generators, particularly in the consumer segment, where awareness of these units is extremely low.

One way in which manufacturers can increase consumer knowledge and interest in back-up power generation products is by working with electrical contractors. Handing out literature on these products and directing consumers to the manufacturer’s website could help companies achieve their goal.

Another effective way of boosting awareness about portable generators is to co-promote them with other products of similar application such as lawn mowers. The advantage of adopting such a technique is that consumers will be able to compare and contrast these products with each other, and thereby, more easily understand the features and selection criteria of portable generators.

Alternatively, manufacturers could consider directly targeting consumers through elaborate marketing campaigns, the Internet, or publications relevant to the home and garden. Moreover, manufacturers can customize products for specific applications or end users to address the problem of product differentiation.

The portable power market has been seeing a growing shift away from regular generators toward inverter generators, which are more efficient and less noisy. At the same time, the market for dual power and dual frequency generators is increasing. There has also been significant technology advances such as the development of pressure lubrication features that help extend engine life and others such as automatic decompression, that have reduced the amount of compression in the engine cylinder during start up