A conventional elevator system consists of a car, a machine and a counterweight. The counterweight is designed to balance the weight of a half-loaded car. As a result, the counterweight is heavier than an empty or lightly loaded car, but lighter than a heavily or fully loaded one. This difference enables the elevator to utilize gravity to travel up with a light load or descend with a heavy load.

When the car utilizes gravity, the machine creates electricity just like a generator. In conventional systems, the electricity generated by the machine is wasted. It is fed back through the elevator electrical system and dissipated as heat through resistors, creating waste-heat loads in the building. ReGen drives conserve this energy and put it to work.

Combined with highly efficient gearless machines, ReGen drives feed this energy back into the building’s electrical grid where it can be used to power other building systems.

ReGen drives also produce “clean power”, which dramatically reduces the harmonic distortion of the incoming line current, resulting in less pollution of the building’s electrical power system, helping to protect sensitive building equipment.

The ReGen drives’ robust design can withstand significant voltage fluctuations and can operate with all standard voltages from 170 volts to 528 volts, making them an ideal choice for a broad range of applications.

Regen Drives - another example of how Otis is leading the way to a greener, more energy efficient future.