i was thinking of using my diesel 5000W 110V generator to hook up to my fuse box. could this slow down my spinning power meter? would it even work? how could i go about hooking it up? i was thinking about just synching the diesel engine so that it spind the generator at the correct rpm's for the a/c hz, and just plug in the wires. or is it more complex than that?

i would also use the waste heat of the diesel engine and generator motor to heat my water to further the efficency and i could get rid of the hot water heater to even farther conserve energy.

and also run the engine on biodiesel or wvo. using a large 5-10 gallon oil sump would also make it more user friendly as i wouldnt need to change the oil as often, sence it would obviously be running 24 hours a day.

what do you guys think about this idea? i mainly need input on how to hook up to my power grid. the water stuff i think i can handle. i have seen articles on using solar power to slow down and sometimes stop or reverse! the spinning power meter. i know a little 5000W diesel generator wont stop or reverse the power meter, but it would sure be cool to slow it down so i pay less money each month!
how can i do this? is it possible with a diesel generator?
any information or links or anything at all would be helpfull.

It can be done, but it isn't that simple.

Do a archive search on cogeneration, and "motor as a generator"

Eric

If you are intending to use 120V or more it's really not worth messing about. The dangers of getting it wrong are too high and there's a good chance you'll blow equipment connected to the "faulty" generator. Standby generators are not cheap for good reason.

The problem with using an induction motor is freqency control. If it's grid connected the grid will fix the prequency. But off grid, I dont think they are much use. There are all sorts of other issues I wont try to bore you with, but basically dont bother. You really need either a d.c. generator and an electronic a.c. converter or a regulated a.c. generator.

If you have a battery pack with a.c. converter and a generator, you need to make sure that one or both can sychronise the frequency and phase before connecting. Just throw the switch between unsychronised generators and you'll have an expensive bang.