Energy awareness is at an all time high, with many people wondering how they can save power, reduce their energy consumption, and live more sustainable lives.  Some people are taking it a step further, and want to know what they can do to get completely off the power grid.  While going off the grid isn’t for everyone, it can be a rewarding step toward making your life completely sustainable.  If you’re interested in being less reliant on public sources of energy, here’s some information to help you find out what getting off the grid is all about, and decide whether it’s the right choice for you.
What Is Living Off Grid?

People who are off the grid produce all their own electric power in some way – whether that’s wind, water power, or solar power, some combination of those, or some other method.  However, it’s pretty difficult for an individual to produce a quantity of power equivalent to the average American’s consumption.  We use a lot of power in our daily lives.  Something that everyone who wants to go off the grid will need to do is learn to reduce their personal power use to a level that can be sustained through home generation.  Your quality of life can be just as good off the grid as it was on it, but there will be differences.  It may mean switching to more efficient appliances, or it could require major lifestyle changes.  One thing’s for certain – you can’t use the approximately ten thousand kilowatt-hours per year that the average American goes through if you want to live off grid.

There are many ways to get off the grid – not every option works for every person.  You’ll have to take your personal situation, your location, local laws, and your lifestyle into account.  Even if going all the way off the grid isn’t effective for you, conservation is still important and possible.  Also, not being fully independent doesn’t mean you can’t generate some of your own power.  A growing number of people use alternative power, but dispense with battery systems in favor of a grid tie in situation instead.  Once again, local laws and the cooperation of your utility will affect whether or not you can do this.
Questions To Ask Yourself

There are nearly two hundred thousand people in the United States currently who are living without an electric bill.  This number is growing rapidly, but before you join them, you should ask yourself a few questions.  First, decide if you really want to do it – we all want to stop getting a power bill, but not all of us want this enough to radically change our lives.  To be completely off grid, you’ll have to pay attention to power consumption, use your appliances differently, and maintain your own equipment.  You’ll also have to be willing to invest money up front in order to stop paying money later – the initial cost of batteries, windmills, solar panels and other equipment could be quite high.  However, that cost will eventually be balanced out by the fact that you’ll never pay another power bill.

There are lots of reasons to stop being plugged in to public utilities.  Some people live in places that are too far away or too inconveniently located to hook up to their local utility.  If you’ve found your perfect paradise, you might never receive public utilities because they can’t be installed there.  Others who choose to do without a utility bill do so because they prefer the independence.  When you’re providing all your own power, you’re that much closer to a fully self-sustainable lifestyle.  Environmental concerns are often high on the list of reasons to go off grid, too.  Most municipal power is provided from power plants that burn coal or oil – major contributors to pollution and producers of greenhouse gases.  For those who aren’t willing to support this kind of activity, independence is appealing.

If you’re interested in becoming independent yourself, take a look at your situation.  Apartment dwellers and people living in cities will have a hard time getting completely disconnected from the grid, though homeowners may be able to provide supplemental power with a small windmill or solar panel without moving to the country.  The best candidates for going off the grid are people who own their own homes and who live in rural areas.  However, the local geography can be a problem.  Don’t bank on solar power if you live in an extremely northern latitude, or rely on wind if you see lots of still days. 

Another important question to ask yourself is whether or not your family will be amenable to your choice.  People who live on their own, or couples who are in close agreement won’t run into too many arguments about going off the grid.  However, if you’ve got children, live as part of a larger household, or are in any other situation where others will be affected by becoming independent, you’re going to have to take their opinions into account.  After all, they’ll have to change their lifestyles as well, and they may not see eye to eye with you on environmental issues, independence, or other reasons.

Decide how much you can reduce your energy expenditures, and look at the potential your area has for generating power.  If you can, it’s best to ask this question after talking to others who produce their own energy.  Look at the equipment you can afford and what it can generate and store, then look at your lifestyle.  The biggest rule of living off the grid is that you have to produce more energy than you consume.  That means being smart and efficient about conserving power, unless you have a lot of money to spend.  A common rule is that a dollar worth of conservation can help you save three to five dollars on the cost of the equipment you’ll need.
State Tax Incentives and Rebates

Many states are becoming increasingly supportive of people who choose to buy clean energy equipment.  As power prices go up, more and more people add solar or wind systems to their homes, and that’s fueled by the fact that in twenty-nine states out of fifty, you can get a tax break or rebate for up to fifty percent of the cost of your system.  This also applies to people using the grid-tie-in system.  Seventeen different states, as well as some power companies, offer rebates on buying and installing wind or solar systems.  This is up in the past eight years – only three states permitted this in 2000. 

In the past six years, the number of states with “net metering” legislation, which allows grid tie in users to sell their surplus power to the electric company, has gone from twenty to forty.  All this means that it’s easier than ever to go partially or fully off the grid.  However, state laws are anything but consistent.  That means you’ll have to do a lot of research on your own to find out what your options are.  People live off grid in just about every state, but Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Maine and Vermont are particularly well known for their favorable policies.  By comparison, Alabama only offers tax incentives, and many other states have only net metering laws.
Solar and Wind

Solar power and wind are the most common methods of generating your own electricity.  In some places, one is better than the other – for instance, the sun-drenched Southwest is an ideal location for solar panels, and the Midwest is already known for its windmills.  However, in most locations, even those regions, these two technologies are paired up to produce more power and with greater efficiency.  That’s because much of the time, when the sun’s not shining, the wind is blowing.  These methods of generating power can switch off for one another, preventing “dead periods” where electricity supplies are low. 

To decide what will work best for your situation, talk to other people who are off the grid in your area, and look at your property.  The roof is a popular place for solar panel installation (and these devices are getting much cheaper).  However, if your home is located at the base of a hill, or is surrounded by tall trees, you may not get enough light.  Trees and landscape features can block windmills, too.  That means you’ll need a taller pole, to change the landscape, or to find a better place to locate your windmill.  Areas with a steady wind are more desirable than places where the wind is inconsistent – contrary to popular belief, a gale isn’t good for your windmill.  You can buy devices to test how much wind your property gets over the course of a period of time.

Solar panels are typically sold by wattage and size.  A more powerful panel will gather more sunlight, but it will also cost more.  Panels are available between 1 watt and 224 watts, commonly.  Residential solar panels for homes that are fully off grid or tied into the grid usually are 150 watts or more.  These can be mounted on your roof, in south facing windows, or as ground installations in wide open spaces.  Panels that are up high may be less likely to suffer damage, but they’ll also be harder to maintain.  With the advent of Nanosolar’s one dollar per watt cells, solar energy can be cheaper than grid power.

Wind turbines are excellent in many locations, especially if sunlight is intermittent.  However, you should be willing to buy a high quality turbine – trying to keep a cheap one working is an uphill battle.  You’ll have to pay more for a high quality machine, however – be prepared for the cost.  Buy a turbine with a warranty of five years or more if you can, and pay attention to the track record of the company and the model you’re thinking about buying.  The warranty that’s offered if an indication of how the manufacturer feels about their product quality.  Remember to talk to other people who’ve used your type of turbine about their experiences.  The Internet can be an invaluable resource here – there are plenty of forums where people are happy to tell you how they’ve gone off grid, and what problems they’ve had.
Off the Grid All the Way?

The equipment you’ll have to buy if you’re planning to become fully independent will be different from what you’ll need if you’re planning to tie into the grid.  That’s because you’ll use power at a different rate than you’ll generate it.  That means that you’ll need a way to store power when you’re not using it, if you’re completely off grid.  Those with a tie in will simply sell their surplus energy back to the utility company, sometimes literally running their meters backwards.  Those who want complete independence from the utility companies will know that they have power at any time of the day, but they’ll need a battery bank, inverter, controller, and other  equipment to do it.  These can be relatively costly, but it’s important to remember that in the end, they pay for themselves.

For those who can’t make the investment in a full renewable energy system right away, or who aren’t sure about total independence, a grid tie-in system can be a baby step in the direction of going totally off the grid.  This sort of system allows you to put your energy generation system into effect early, and to worry about batteries later.  You’ll still need more than just a few solar panels or a turbine, however.  The energy generated by most renewable energy sources requires conversion before it can be used as household current.  One advantage of a grid tie in, particularly for solar energy, is that you can start with fewer panels and add to the system as time goes on.  However, you’ll need to make sure that all your equipment is up to the load you’ll eventually be putting on it.

The disadvantage of a grid tie in is that you still have to deal with the utility company, and you’ll probably still have to pay power bills.  Very few people can start out with a bill that reads zero, or one that’s in the negative numbers.  Some power companies are friendlier to people generating their own power than others.  That means that, depending on where you live, you could experience a reaction that’s anywhere from helpful to hostile.  In some cases, utility companies actually try to make the process so complicated that it discourages grid tie in systems.  Fortunately, not all utilities act like this, and the number that do is getting gradually smaller.  Just be prepared to face some confusion and opposition when you call about running your meter backwards.
Not Just About Technology

As mentioned earlier, conservation is an important part of going off grid.  It’s not just about buying the right components and getting free power from the sun (though that is a benefit).  Conservation is something you should start doing before you ever buy a solar panel or investigate a wind turbine.  New homes are the best candidates for renewable energy, since they can be built to be more efficient.  However, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to make your existing home a lot better when it comes to conservation.  All the usual tips apply – insulate your home thoroughly, seal gaps, and switch to more efficient appliances. 

The amount of money you spend on a super efficient washer or better insulation for your home will quickly pay for itself in power generating equipment you don’t have to buy, and bills you don’t have to pay.  You’ll have to get the whole household in on the effort for it to succeed, however.  If you have a family member who leaves the lights on, turns the heat up, or engages in other wasteful behavior, you’ll probably have an uphill battle when it comes to getting your home in shape for going off grid.  An efficient home uses less power, meaning you’ll have more energy to spare for luxuries like computer and television use.

Be smart and make sure you have a good strategy for going off grid.  It’ll take a lot of research beforehand, but you’ll benefit from organization and planning when your system goes together smoothly, and you’re enjoying reduced or nonexistent electricity bills.  Make sure you know everything you can about the equipment you’re installing, how to maintain it, and have an emergency plan.  If you increase efficiency and plan well, you could be watching television while the rest of the area is suffering from a blackout.
Getting Off the Grid Is Possible

If you’ve always wanted to become independent and self-sufficient, but you’ve thought that it just wasn’t possible, don’t give up.  The technology to produce your own power is becoming steadily cheaper and more accessible to the average person.  Renewable energy isn’t just a movement for hippies and survivalists, and you don’t have to live in a shack to enjoy it.  While there are some lifestyle changes required, they shouldn’t decrease your quality of life.  Just be prepared to adjust what you need to in order to become more efficient, and invest money now to save it later.  You’ll soon be enjoying the benefits of energy independence, and you’ll know that your personal ecological footprint is that much smaller. 

Get started by asking yourself what you’d have to do in order to go off the grid – whether it’s just to a grid tie in, or all the way.  If you’re not sure, check out books on energy production or magazines like Home Power at your local bookstore or library, visit websites like www.off-grid.net and www.solarhome.org, or just search for information in your favorite search engine.  There are a lot more people taking the steps to be independent of the utility companies these days, and they’re often happy to share what they’ve learned.  With the advent of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to get solid facts about installing and maintaining your own renewable energy system.  You can even buy all the components online.

For anyone who’s concerned about the ecological impact of conventional power, who wants a sustainable lifestyle, or who just wants to save money and say goodbye to the utility companies, going off grid is a possibility.  While it won’t work for everyone, more and more people are trying it.  If you do it with a plan, and make sure you’re organized, your chances of success are very high.  Get started finding out more today and discover what you’ve been missing by staying tied into the conventional utility system.