Malta - British Expat Forum

Hope this is not an already covered topic.
They told me that you have to have an electricity meter. Can someone remain detached from electricity (using solar panels and thus avoiding that annoying fixed 65 euro per annuum) or they won't give you residency if you do so?
Thank you as usual

do you mean solar panels for making hot water or PV panels for generating electricity ?

PV, of course (otherwise that wouldn't detach me from electricity)

afaik you don't have to be connected to mains electricity in order for your house to be considered fit for habitation - however

what happens when its cloudy and at night time ?


Installing PV panels sufficient for a house would cost around € 5,000 upwards, and if you don't have a meter you cant sell the electricity to Enemalta for 25 or 28c a unit, whereas they sell electricity to you for 10-20c a unit.You also cant claim the subsidy of up to € 3,000 on the installation. Relative to those figures, € 65 a year meter rental is frankly irrelevant.

I was thinking about a different solution: 12v car battery+inverter+stabilizer+50W solar panel would fit my needs perfectly (I have very low consumption) and would cost around 150 euro. I don't think small systems like this can be connected to Enemalta. I could add a generator for 200 euro just to have much power every now and then.
Anyway, if you buy a kit DIY (Do It Yourself) I think you can get a 1KW power system for less than 500 euro (if you know how to build, of course).

I guess you won't be using the internet at home then

Why not ? My fabulous netbook which I bought for 200 euros (but now you can find more powerful machines for less) lasts a week or so with a 45Ah battery alone. And if you use cable internet, that shouldn't require external power supply.

what other electric using items will you have ? Won't even a kettle or a toaster cause problems ?

Apart from the fact that I can have a generator for the cases where power is required, in general with electricity you need power mainly to heat something. Often you can use gas; anyway my simple life doesn't require things like phon, but an air conditioner in August might be interesting and wouldn't fit in my system...

Many foreigners move to Gozo to live a simple life, but not to your extreme hope it all works out

It should work out, as I've been living this way for many years at home (I have water and electricity but consumption is very low). The only moment when I require power is when using my wash machine.

Have you got round the problem of having to pay for food yet?

@ John LOL! He can buy a few sandwiches and a couple of coffees with the money he's saved by getting free one-on-one consultancy from Mark instead of putting his hand in his pocket like nearly everyone else.

If you search for offers an plan your purchases, food is very cheap. Here (Italy) the costs in a day are as follows:
- pasta 200g = 10c
- fruit 1 kg = 50c
- milk 500g = 40c
- vegetables 200g = 20c
- 3 eggs = 33c or meat 100g = 1 euro or fish 150g = 1 euro
- water, oil, vinegar, gas etc = 20c
With 2.50 euro per day you're fine, but sometimes I get better prices. Then every now and then you can go to the restaurant.

Kay,
though I thank very much Mark for his replies and attention and useful information, I found the things he said somewhere else too, often they are publicly available. I think that often people spends money for information because doesn't know how to search or is lazy. If you work and reason over the information you gather, you don't really need a consultant, many times. You get used to believe that "the technician knows, not me" and you don't see how many things you can do by yourself.
There are also many government offices open to answer people questions, though Mark is right saying that they do not always know. Here in Italy offices are quite helpful in my opinion.
By the way, the prices I wrote are the same I found in Malta in a short vacation, also because they often come from widely spread supermarket chains (say Auchan or Lidl)