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What is The Greenius?

The Greenius is a wood and metal structure (approximately 16 feet wide by 20 feet deep by 10 feet tall) that homeowners (and businesses) purchase, with monthly financing, from Greenius Corporation.

The Greenius has twelve 260 Watt adjustable solar photovoltaic panels attached to the top (3.12 kWh total), which produce pollution-free electricity for your home. Electrical power produced by The Greenius replaces some, perhaps most, of your utility purchased electricity. Your home remains hooked to the “grid” with The Greenius, and you will seamlessly draw power from the grid whenever necessary.

The structure of The Greenius allows for many secondary uses, including a play structure for the kids, a soccer/hockey rink, a greenhouse, garage, dog kennel, or even an enclosure for a hot tub.  We have examples of such uses on this web site. top

How Much Does It Cost?

The Greenius comes prefinanced with a 30 year, 6% fixed mortgage. After government rebates, the remaining amount financed is $22,000. The monthly payment over 360 months is $132 per month. top

How Does The Greenius Generate Electricity?

The Greenius generates electricity through the use of solar photovoltaic panel (PV) technology which turns sunlight energy into electric energy, and a wind turbine, which turns wind energy into electrical energy. top

Can I Use the Electricity from The Greenius in My Home?

Yes, the electricity generated by The Greenius works just like the electricity delivered by your local utility now. After leaving The Greenius, the direct current (DC) electricity generated by the photovoltaic panels and the wind turbine is converted to alternating current (AC) by passing through a component called an inverter.  The alternating current is what your home receives now from your local utility. top

Will The Greenius Provide Enough Energy to Handle All My Electricity Needs?

The Greenius will provide 50% to 75% of the electricity used by the average American home. Keep in my that you are still hooked to the "grid" with The Greenius, and it is not necessary for the system to cover all of your needs in order to be cost-effective. For instance, if your local utility charges are based on a tiered rate structure, which is likely the case, you pay an incrementally higher rate for each kWh that you use. The Greenius will therefore eliminate the most expensive portion of your monthly utility bill. top

How Will I Know if The Greenius is Working?

You can look up the output of your Greenius anytime by checking the output meter. top

What do I need to use The Greenius? Do I get enough Sun?

For the solar panels, all you need is a home (or business) with a yard (with a clear area of at least 30 feet by 30 feet) that receives good sunlight. All areas in the continental United States receive enough insolation (the amount of solar energy in hours hitting the earth) to make The Greenius cost effective.

The wires from The Greenius are buried at installation. For best results The Greenius should be placed within 100 feet of the home.

Greenius Corporation can arrange for tree trimming to clear a space for The Greenius, at an additional cost. top

With the Greenius, am I Still On the "Grid"?

Yes. While The Greenius will supply a significant percentage of the electric power used by the average home, it will probably not provide all. So, your home can still draw power from the utility company, when necessary, seamlessly and automatically.

Luckily, when electricity use is at its highest, on hot, sunny days, when your air conditioner is running full blast, the output of The Greenius will be at its highest. top

What is Net Metering?

Although The Greenius is not designed to be a complete replacement of your electricity needs, there are days when The Greenius may actually produce more power than your home consumes. On these days (in most states) the meter on your home actually runs backwards, and you sell electricity through the grid to other homes. top

How much pollution will I offset by using The Greenius?

We estimate that the clean power produced by The Greenius (300 - 700 kWh per month) offsets utility created electricity from fossil fuels that would have caused the release of over 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air per year, and also offsets the release of significant amounts of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. top

Does it work in a Power Outage? Do I need to have batteries?

If the electrical grid in your area experiences an outage from storm damage, or for other reasons, The Greenius must shut down as well, for safety reasons. It would be dangerous for utility workers if surges of power were traveling the grid during line repairs. When the grid returns to normal, The Greenius automatically reconnects.

Battery storage is quite expensive, and is not offered as a standard item at this time. top

Will The Greenius Provide Enough Energy to Handle All My Electricity Needs?

The Greenius will provide a good portion of the electricity used by the average American home. Keep in mind that you are still hooked to the “grid” with The Greenius, and it is not necessary for the system to cover all of your needs in order to be cost-effective. Further, if your local utility charges are based on a tiered rate structure, which is likely the case, you pay an incrementally higher rate for each kWh that you use. The Greenius will therefore eliminate the most expensive portion of your monthly utility bill. top

Harmful emissions

There are no known harmful emissions of any kind whatsoever from solar photovoltaic panels.  On the other hand, by using solar and wind power, you are likely offsetting tons of carbon dioxide from being released into our atmosphere by fossil fuel burning power plants.top

Wires to the house from the photovoltaic panels

The electric current that is generated by the photovoltaic panels and wind turbine on The Greenius is sent via insulated wires to a meter inside your home.  The wires are placed in a steel tube.

Unless someone takes the time to cut through a steel or hard plastic pipes with a machine, there is no possibility of even touching the wires. Even if someone took out a ladder and climbed to the top of The Greenius, there is no known harmful effect from touching the photovoltaic panels.  Smaller versions of PV panels in calculators are used by millions of kids every day. top

Harmful "fields" from the wires

Scientists are not aware of any harmful "fields" of any kind which can emanate from the wires.

In fact, the bed that you sleep in every night is probably much closer to electric wires, protected only by drywall, than the wires of The Greenius, which are protected by hard pipes.  Of course, there are also no scientific studies which have shown any harmful effect from living with indoor electric wiring either. top

Care and maintenance

Greenius Corporation assumes the care and maintenance responsibilities as outlines in the purchase agreement. top

Where Can I See The Greenius?

We have set up. We plan on setting up demonstration models at Science Centers / Schools all across the United States. Here are photos. top

Do Photovoltaic Panels Work on Cloudy Days or in Cold Weather?

Yes to both. The panels still produce some electricity, albeit much reduced, on cloudy, windy days. Of course, on such days, the wind turbine on The Greenius will often be producing quite a lot of power. Cold weather has no significant effect on the panels. top

How Long Will the Photovoltaic (PV) Panels on The Greenius Last?

The photovoltaic panels have no moving parts and should last more than 30 years.  Their ability to generate electricity degrades at less than 1% a year. top

How Much Energy Will the PV Panels on The Greenius Produce?

The amount of energy that The Greenius produces will vary from location to location and from day to day, and even year to year. We estimate that on average it should produce about 400 kWh to 700 kWh a month. We will provide nationwide data on our website after it is accumulated. Based on the Average Daily Sunlight Map, The Greenius will produce approximately:

In the Green area (3 to 4 hours daily average): XXX kWh per month
In the Light Green area (4 to 5 hours daily average): XXX kWh per month
In the Yellow area (5 to 6 hours daily average): XXX kWh per month
In the Tan area (6 to 7 hours daily average): XXX kWh per month

Of course, these are averages, and the PV panels will produce more electricity in June, when there is more sunlight, than December. top