from the Chamber of Commerce....Tom Vidrine presented some information on wind and solar power for individual homes. The cost of the systems has come down dramatically over the years and the criteria to design your own system is more readily available and easy to understand. The costliest part of the system are the batteries and a discussion ensued about having the excess power generated sent back through the power lines to BEL. In the states, this is done and your power meter runs backwards thus alleviating the need for the power company to change their billing or install new equipment. Tom said he would look into BEL being open to this and if the currently installed electric meters would run backwards.
Here is some discussion on Belize Forums....
CLICK HERE
I would be interested in hearing more about this subject.
I'm planning to convert my house to wind and solar energy, so look forward to hearing/reading much more about this.
The meter does not go backwards. There is a seperate meter the calculates the amount sent into the system. In the states this monitored thru the connection, hence the reason no more meter readers.
There is an additional cost but depending on the kw cost and your reduced usage it can pay itslef off in 5-10 years, even less if you add a wind turbine for night time production.
My meter here on the island turns backwards all day, as long as the sun shines.
I have installed a:
7.5K solar system, grid tied, 32 panels
0.5k wind generator, grid tied
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you can also go up to the windmill house, ca. 5 miles N. of San Pedro. He has a large wind generator installed and a small solar system. Whenever the wind gusts the meter starts turning backwards.
I didn't think that this was possible in Belize. As I understand it, BEL doesn't buy power from individuals like in the states. Has the law changed?
Ron I understand it the same , that Belize does not require BEL to BUY BACK your excess power . I believe all meters will run backwards . I sent a note to PM Dean Barrow on facebook suggesting ,to promote wind & solar Belize should do 2 things . (1) drop all import duties and GST on all wind and solar equipment and promote the fact that Belize is encouraging GREEN living . (2) Require BEL to buy excess back at lowest generation rates .These 2 actions would create electric generation in Belize and reduce the amount we would have to buy from Mexico .
I'd like to see them really look into wind farms. But at the small scale, everyone could be a producer for a small capitol outlay. It would make a big difference if it was possible. It'd let my turbine run even when I'm not there, but now I just shut it down. I don't need the power to keep the batteries charge, the solar works to do that.
I found some interesting information on wind, solar, algae biodiesel, diesel generators and even HHO generators for the car that can save money on gas on this particular web site. Seems that the writer on this site has eliminated the scams and found real devices that can help the environment also. You need to cruise around the site to find everything but it is there:
http://www.egeneratorsforhomeuse.com
This link may be interesting in this topic:
//ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/437596/Generator.html#Post437596