Solar energy in Dominican Republic

To answer your solar question in a house/villa yes and many do to some degree.  Some just hot water, some hot water and pool pumps (these two are the biggest consumers in your house) and some are totally "off the grid".  It is a bit expensive with the cost of panels, install, batteries, inverter kit, and maintenance it can be expensive but usually pays for itself in electricity savings in 2-4 years.

Bob K

Yeah Bob, the initial  (upfront) costs are high, but it will pay for itself in the long run and as costs for panels come down this is where I see everyone going. Just seems that it would solve the power outage problems. Most condos in Playa have rooftop terraces and panels can be installed on these areas for condos. My condo in Playa has had an average monthly utility bill of $0. I sell back the energy to the elec. company (get credit) when the condo is not being used. It is much better than burning coal or oil for electricity. I am no tree hugger by any means, but I believe wholeheartedly in preserving our natural resources and I'm a believer in renewable energy. Unfortunately, right now it is not affordable or realistic for the masses.

Most condo regulations here do not allow for you to put solar panels, tv dishes and such on the outside of the buildings.

Bob K

energy companies here would probably want to charge you for the electricity jaajajajjajajaja if you try and sell.. cost is reason its not widespread. it would be nice to have.

I remember in the 70's in Corpus Christi Tx everyone was putting up wind generators. They worked good but generated so many complaints about noise the city banned them.

Actually you can sell it back to the  distributors. All of the companies have ability to  do this,  requires special meters etc and is not cheap but is very doable. I know of 2 people who do this.

yes I was kidding!!!!! about them charging

Hahahaha  but its so possible they would try this........

That is what we do in Playa. We sell it back to the grid.

Good morning

It's definitely a good Idea to invest in solar panels for your energy consumption as this is the most expensive service in the Island. We have two solar panels and we will get two more soon because the $300+ USD bill / month is kind of a rip off taking into consideration that we don't spend lot of energy. I have seen in a few homes small wind turbines too, but I ignore how powerful could it be...

Cheers.

I think reduction in electrical consumption is an easy payback.
With air conditioning being the biggest component,  I am looking at a new 100% solar to air conditioning solution .  I have calculated a 3-4 year payback . Conversion to LED lights are the second priority.

Does anyone have recommendations for suppliers and installers in the Punta Cana area?  Some approx cost expectations would also be helpful.  Much appreciated...

Greeassets how about sharing with  us how you came to that payback?  Cost outlays to set up, install etc and  consumption assumptions used to get a  3 to 4 years payback.  Thanks.

And welcome to the forums!

I am also currently looking into the costs but cannot find one company in the Punta Cana or Bavaro area that does solar. There is a large on in the Puerto Plata area however so I have written to them to find out costs etc and to see if they can do down here too.

I saw a couple of dealers in the north coast area. JB International and Trace Solar. I don't know if there just sellers or if they install too.

JB int were the ones I wrote to last week and have had no reply..
I shall look here in Punta Cana and advise in due course.

I also would like to hear this theory of 3-4 year payback..
Especially for AC!
Please share.

I am a BIG Proponent of Solar. Wind generator if you have the winds to sustain, but that means good strong constant wind. Not that easy to come by and towers required..

I like Solar!

My garage in NH is Solar run. The wind generator comes no where close to what the panels can do and I balance this statement with 10 years of use of both.

For AC, I find it difficult due to the amount of energy they use.
That takes quite the array to collect the power required, then transfer to the AC unit.

Personally, I don't even think AC.. I'll buy that power.
Everything else, I've found I can work with (well I do use propane for Hot Water & cooking, again too high a draw)...

I'd like to know if you have 'Reverse Metering' down there?
Selling back does not pay off well.
Reverse Metering, as we have here, makes sense!

How is propane and cooking too high of an electrical draw? That's a miniscule amount of energy.

Cooking on an electric stove is significantly more expensive than propane!

reverse metering, pay back...you are kidding. We can't even get reliable electricity.

AC is pretty much a necessity here for many.  Figure out how much electricity you AC units uses in an hour then how many hours a day you will run it and how many days in a month.  Then figure out your cost and see how long it takes for solar to pay that back. And remember if you go over 700KWH a month your power costs almost double.

Bob K

700 KWH is huge. I'm around 140 KWH a month.

We are between 500 and 600 but run lots of stuff


Bob K

Don't know what you're cooking on, but, a small electric burner uses about 1.1kwh, large 2.5kwh and oven 4kwh. That rates out fairly high in my mind. Typical AC 3-5kwh.

Now size an array to equal this.

Bob K wrote:

reverse metering, pay back...you are kidding. We can't even get reliable electricity.

AC is pretty much a necessity here for many.  Figure out how much electricity you AC units uses in an hour then how many hours a day you will run it and how many days in a month.  Then figure out your cost and see how long it takes for solar to pay that back. And remember if you go over 700KWH a month your power costs almost double.

Bob K

So I take it, no such thing as Reverse Metering down there.
That would be a shame..
It a great way to reduce 'your' costs and contribute to the 'Grid'.

What do you pay per KWH?
Actually, what do you pay each month divided by what you use is a better question.

There is reverse metering but it's tough to get. Electricity rates are banded, the more you use the higher the kwh rate.

The lowest is 6.86 rd and highest is 14.86 rd.  Private suppliers are higher.

planner wrote:

There is reverse metering but it's tough to get. Electricity rates are banded, the more you use the higher the kwh rate.

The lowest is 6.86 rd and highest is 14.86 rd.  Private suppliers are higher.

Your low is pretty equal to what we pay in the NH, US (in fact a couple cents less)
But that's all in.. taxes, surcharges, transmission fees, etc...

For my place up here, I run 500watts of panels to off-set costs and a 750watt wind generator to aid reverse at night.
Now that's very small and does not give me full replacement.

Fall, Winter and Spring winds are good, but without a tower I do not capture all I could.
Towers are expensive and take up a good size footprint.

Panels, I calculate, for my region, would be a 5-7kw system.
Then batteries.. The system to run is not an extreme cost, but batteries are.
Going 'Off-Grid' is not inexpensive by any means.

I know people that are 'Off-Grid' and exchange info with them regularly.
They have no choice for there is no power where they choose to live.

If there is an opportunity, which I doubt for most of you, Hydro is the way go!
Reason I've been researching different areas than most of you.

On my bill the rate is 4.44 for 124 KWH. That's the energia price. Then there is a cargo fijo or fixed charge of 137.25 pesos. Not much!

I'd be interested in finding land that has hydro capabilities.

When you all talk about using 500 kwh, is that per month?  I'm still in the States and checked my electric bill after reading your posts and we used 3300 kwh this past month.  I guess that's a lot.  I've never thought about it before until reading your posts.  I'm assuming we use so much because we are in a completely electric home, running A/C 24/7.  With the exception of A/C, what all do you do to use so little?  We're using 100 kwh per day.

We use energy efficienct bulbs, turn lights, fans etc off whenever you can. Propane stove. Not common to use electric drier. Not common to have central air.

Yes, there are 5 of us in the house and we are definitely running the a/c, drying our clothes, and cooking with electricity.  How do you dry your clothes?  Outdoors?  With the humidity?  Do you then have to iron?  (God forbid)

Yes as Planner said we are very careful in the amount of electricity we use.  You NEVER leave a room with a fan or light on.  We also very rarely use any   AC

Yes  you do dry your clothes outside on a line.  Kind of old fashion and the clothes smell so nice (in a good way).

If you use a dryer get a propane one not electric here.

Also all stoves and ovens here are gas not electric

We have a large villa and manage to keep our electric under 700 KW  a month.  Over that amount we basically double our bill

Bob K

I use mostly LED bulbs, some CFL's, propane stove, two fans, propane dryer, inverter refrigerator, electric washer, electric water pump. When I walk out of a room I turn off the light and fans too. I don't waste electricity on anything. The locals on the other hand don't seem to worry about conservation of energy even if they get large electric bills I see them leave their lights on 24/7. When I ask about this they say it doesn't cost anything. But they complain constantly about their high electric bill. Hilarious.

Most locals or at least many have electricity with NO bills because they just hook up to the main line or to a neighbor's line.
You will watch ede Norte (Electric company here on the north coast) disconnect all the illegal hook ups in the morning and by the afternoon someone is up on a ladder hooking everyone back up.  So funny to watch.

Bob K

And others are on a flat rate billing. They are truly shocked when they go on meters.

That's what they get for designing a system that has absolutely so security in it. As well an no real enforcement of anything either. No building codes. No zoning.  It's just a free for all wild west

Funny to watch until they fry themselves.  Not so funny because these thefts are the cause of OUR high bills.  Half of energy produced is stolen, probably more than that.