Make_your_power_Meter_Spin_Backwards

If you have a few years under your belt you saw this add in a magazine, it even mentioned that you can do it legally.

There are folks who have read about converting induction motors into generators, and using them for a very simple means to feed energy back into the grid. When this happens, the typical electrical meter turns backwards at a rate proportional to how much energy you feed back into the grid. This is sometimes called 'net metering', you are effectively getting paid the same rate for the power, as what you pay for it. In some cases this is a legal method to sell power, and some power companies are forced to accept it. This can be your storage battery, and if you are grid tied, it can be an excellent arrangement. 

What is not mentioned here is the arrangement. A legal interface has protection to assure that your power is not fed into the grid when the grid is down, this gets into stuff you better know, but is beyond the scope of this page. You can contact your power provider to learn more about 'net metering'.

There are a number of Articles on the internet about converting Induction motors to generators, but in every case, I've found, the results are poor. The Motors run hot, and the efficiency is low. That all changed when DIYer and EE Bill Rogers got involved, and he now has a book in print that gives detailed information as to how we set up a 220volt 5hp Single Phase Induction Motor to be an EFFICIENT generator, and how to grid tie it for net metering!

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Here's one of the first posts made in a private forum, the reader followed Bills directions and got some rather outstanding results.

220volt X 18.1 Amps back into the grid from the lowly 6/1 engine, pretty amazing.

Here is the message that has just been posted:
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I just finished making the mods in Bill's book to convert an induction motor into an efficient induction generator. The motor I used isn't quite as high end as the one Bill used, but it's very close.

I started with the governor on the 6/1 set a bit high, it was belching black smoke after I closed the contactor, but I turned it down to the point where it stopped smoking and just a little bit more, and I read 18.1 amps output.

I just used Bill's specs right out of the book for the first test, I haven't tweaked it yet for optimum output and power factor. I still have some work to do in that area, but I don't expect any massive gains. I think just using Bill's specs got it pretty close, even though I'm using a slightly different motor. I've got decent output, the motor runs nice and cool, and the engine sounds happy. I don't think it gets too much better than this.

Nice work, Bill !!! Thanks for the time you put into this.

Mark
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But that's only a minor chapter in this amazing DIYers must have book, and you can order a copy now!