How To Buy Wind Turbine Insurance

Novembre 20, 2009 | Alternative Energy, Eco News, Green Energy, Renewable Energy, Wind Energy, Windmill

Before you buy a wind turbine, you need to research insurance requirements first. Most people do not know about insurance requirements for a wind turbine until after they buy a wind turbine. Do not make that mistake.

So why does insurance even come into play? Well, in some cases it does not. It all depends on how you are wiring up your wind turbine. If you run your wind turbine straight to a battery bank and never connect it to the power grid, you do not need to worry about insurance. Where insurance comes into play is if you want your power meter to run backwards as you sell energy you produce back to the power company. In order to accomplish this, you must connect to the power grid.

In a growing number of cities throughout America, a local power company will not let you connect to the power grid unless you can show that you have a million dollar insurance policy. This is common practice in the state of Texas.

A friend of mine wanted to install a wind generator for electricity but the local power company in Texas would not let him connect to the power grid unless he could show that he had a million dollar insurance policy. He called every insurance company he could think of and no one had ever heard of this insurance policy that he can buy. The reason that he wanted to connect directly to the power grid was so that he did not use a battery bank but instead could sell the energy produced back to the electric company.

This is how to solve the problem if you find yourself in this same situation in Texas. Call your local power company and ask for them to install a reverse meter. You need a meter that is capable of running backwards and giving you proper credit, older meters do not have this capability. Next, you need to get the legally required wiring. The county will inspect your wiring. The correct wiring is required because the electric company does not want one of their linemen electrocuted who is down from your solar power or wind power generator.

Do not waste your time calling insurance companies and asking about a wind power or solar power insurance policy. They will just tell you they do not know what you are talking about. What you get is called an umbrella policy on your homeowner’s insurance. Your insurance company might call this secondary insurance. This type of policy goes beyond what your homeowner’s insurance policy covers. Search on the web for an insurance company that sells this type of insurance.

Quality standards exist for how you must connect to the power grid for the safety of everyone such as: staying in phase with the power grid, and a reverse power relay and automatic transfer switch that disconnects you from the power grid in case of a black out. A good "How to make your own wind turbine" book will tell you everything you need to know. If you buy a wind turbine already built, then the manufacturer will tell you what you need to know.

About the Author

By Sean Hernandez. Building your own wind turbine is very easy. For the easiest guides on how to make and install a wind turbine, see my reviews at buy wind turbine

Article Source Earth Articles Green Directory

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