| How much does a
Blue Link 500 cost? |
| Your Blue Link 500 is $5,000
plus shipping from our facility in either southern Maine or
northern California. |
| How does the Blue Link 500 make
electricity? |
| Photovoltaic (PV) panels turn
sunlight into DC electricity. The integrated Inverter changes this
into AC electricity (nominal 120 volts) and feeds this into your
house. |
| How much electricity will the Blue Link 500
make? |
| On average it will produce the same
amount of electricity used by your television, computer, stereo,
coffee maker, and microwave combined, which is about 720 kilowatt
hours per year. If you are a power user you may want to order the
Blue Link 1000. Most locations have 5 full hours of
sunshine. The Blue Link 500 will generate maximum 2,500 watt
hrs per day. The Blue Link 1,000 will generate 5,000 watt hrs
per day. Look at your daily KWhr useage on your power
bill to determine what percentage will be provided by the Blue Link
PV generator. |
| What about installation? |
| Installation is simple. All you do is
fold up the 2 side panels and pin the support arms in place. Then
you position the Blue Link 500 in a flat and sunny location
near an outlet. Plug the 25-foot power cord into a dedicated GFI
outlet. If you don't have one then most electricians can install
one at minimal expense. For permanent installation we recommend
anchoring your Blue Link 500 to the ground or a small
foundation or to a flat roof. |
| What if I move? |
| Unplug it, fold it up, and take it
with you. Please note that if you received a grant or rebate, you
may be required to permanently install your Blue Link System so you
will need to consult the awarding authority. |
| What happens to the electricity produced by the
Blue Link 500? |
| Electricity from the Blue
Link 500 feeds directly into your home's wiring thus reducing
the amount of electricity you buy from the power company. |
| What if I am using more or less electricity
than the Blue Link 500 is producing? |
| Typically all of the electricity made
by the Blue Link 500 is used in your house. However, if little
or no power were being used on a sunny day, the excess electricity
would flow out of your house and onto the grid. Most electric
meters will turn backwards if this happens, giving you a credit.
(Determined over a year's period.) |
| What happens at night, or on cloudy
days? |
| When the Blue Link system isn't
making any electricity you are getting all of your power from the
electric company. |
| What happens when there is a power
failure? |
| If the power fails, the inverter
immediately goes into stand-by mode. This is a legally required
safety feature and is called "anti-islanding." This prevents
someone (an electrician or utility worker for example) from being
accidentally electrocuted. Once the grid comes back up, the
inverter will resume automatically. |
| How is my Blue Link 500 connected to the Solar
Network? |
| The Blue Link 500 is connected
through the grid. The outlet in your wall is connected to the
outlet in your neighbor's house like small streams feeding into a
reservoir. Every Blue Link reduces the amount of electricity needed
from fossil fuel. Every once in a while you'll update us on how
much power your Blue Link has produced and these results are
available on our website. Let's work together to shut down
coal-fired electricity plants! Let us stem the tide toward
global warming. |
