Living Off the Grid

[redochre]

I dream of the day that I would be able to live off the grid (at least partially). I would still want the convenience of appliances but totally unconnected with the capitalist energy companies. 

 

After doing some research, I found out that having a solar powered home would cost us a lot. The price of materials and installation would equal the price of a car. 

 

What would be the best thing to do to start this off-the-grid journey in such a way that is also affordable? 

[Lennox]

In an estimated 20 years, I've heard, it evens out...you could even sell some of the energy collected from solar power, sell it back to the government. Decently-made panels last longer than it would take for them to pay for themselves, of course.

 

I've also read of solar panel technology still developing, so perhaps in a few years there would be more lightweight solar panels that are cheaper to produce, or at least that cheapen old-school solar panels that you can snap up as they would still be functioning? Here's hoping, anyway. I'd like to invest in solar energy, too, one day.

[MindyT]

Do you want electricity?  Have you researched wind power?  On a tv show, I saw a home that was heated by the earth itself.  The house partly under the ground.  They lived out in the desert and as the sun heated up the ground, the home took that energy, stored it, and used it for other applications.  Pretty cool!

[shilpa]

I have had solar lightings in my household for a couple of years. Only for the fans and lights, we used solar power and for everything else we used the normal electricity. However, it did not last for a long time as the maintenance cost was too much for us. Also, it rains quite a lot in my region, hence the power generated be solar batteries was not sufficient. 

 

I had read in a magazine that a man uses solar power for his entire household requirements. The initial cost was high, but after that he didn't have to spend a penny as he took care of all the maintenance work. He also made use of energy from composting organic waste for cooking purposes.

[MindyT]

How would he create energy from composting and use it for cooking? I am not sure how that is possible. I have a compost pile, and I use it in my garden. Is that what you mean?

[trustedc]

I'd also love to do this, and having a solar system which feeds back in to the grid and still gets your power cut when the grid goes down doesnt make sense, however the cost of batteries is still pretty high and so payback is much greater than regular solar panels - but will go down alot over next 5-10 years.