Answers to Common Questions

1. I am a [citizenship] national living in [country]. Have you ever thought about bringing your project to [country]? Here we have no light and contaminated water and your work would be very helpful. What can I do to bring your project here?

blueEnergy's vision is to develop a model for low-cost, sustainable electrification of remote communities that can be replicated around the world. This is no small task and blueEnergy is taking care to grow organically and test and improve every facet of its model before it moves on to replication. Given blueEnergy's limited financial and human resources at this time, we have elected to focus our efforts on model and project development in Nicaragua. That being said, blueEnergy will soon be looking to expand into other parts of the world. This will require large financial resources, but more importantly committed teams in the expansion locations; establishing an energy industry is not something that can be done with a few people working part-time. If you have an idea for blueEnergy expansion, including a lead on human and financial resources, please contact us here.

2. I live in [country] and would like to buy your wind system. What should I do?

If you live outside of Nicaragua we cannot sell you a wind system at this time. The reason is two-fold: 1) blueEnergy is interested in providing sustainable energy services and in order to be sustainable an energy system needs to be properly installed, operated and maintained. If we don't have the capacity to ensure proper installation, operation and maintenance, then we won't sell you a system. At the moment, we only have the capacity to do this within Nicaragua and even then, only within certain geographic areas. And, 2) blueEnergy currently has a limited production capacity and cannot meet the level of international demand.

Both of these restrictions are temporary in nature and we will be expanding our service area every year. If you are interested in a blueEnergy system, please subscribe to our mailing list and keep track of our growth; we'll reach your area soon.

3. I live in Nicaragua. I would like to buy your wind system. What should I do?

blueEnergy will be making its systems available throughout Nicaragua sometime in 2008. If you live in the RAAS, we may be able to accomodate you sooner. In either case, if you are interested in a blueEnergy system, please subscribe to our mailing list and contact us here. If you send us an email, please be sure to include detailed information on the location of the project and the desired uses of the energy.

4. How much does one of your wind systems cost?

blueEnergy system are custom designed for every application and the cost typically varies from USD$ 15,000 to USD$ 40,000 for an installed system depending on production capacity, site characteristics, battery storage capacity, inverter capacity, location, service contract, etc. If you are interested in a quote for a specific project in Nicaragua, please contact us here. If you send us an email, please be sure to include detailed information on the location of the project and the desired uses of the energy.

5. How much energy does your wind system produce.

A "typical" blueEnergy system produces between 1,500 and 2,000 kWH per year (please note this value may vary considerably based on the size of system installed and the wind and sun resources at the installation site).

6. Will one of blueEnergy's systems power my house?

That really depends on your house. If you have an electric drier, air conditioner and other typical appliances found in a Western-style home, then most likely not.

A typical home in the United States consumes 11,209 kWh per year, in Japan 5,945 kWh per year, in Europe 4,667 kWh per year, and in a hypothetical high-efficiency home with a Western standard of living 1,300 kWh per year. By contrast, a small home in the remote Caribbean Coast region of Nicaragua might consume more like 150 kWh per year (using two lights, a radio and a small black-and-white television).

For comparison a "typical" blueEnergy system produces between 1,500 and 2,000 kWH per year (please note this value may vary considerably based on the size of system installed and resource at installation site).

7. Where can I learn more about renewable energy?

Check out our links page - there are several great information resources listed there.