Renewable Energy homes ?

Question

The cost of running power lines to my property is $18k, and my rate would be the same as every one else. To me $18k is better spend on solar and wind. So many people think this is impossible to do and are just plain wrong !

Here are two good links to find a better way.

http://www.homepower.com/index.cfm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

I'm not looking for a government handout rebate, just a lifestyle that makes sense. To me R.E. is just plain patriotic, America at its finest.

Answer 1

I think it's a great idea to try to capture renewable energy, however I have 2 good reasons to also buy power lines.  1. Solar and wind power can be both unreliable and temperamental, you might need energy from the grid in case you are not able to produce.  2.  If you have power lines and a surplus of electricity you can put power back on the grid and get paid by the power company.

Answer 2

Your on the correct path....just keep doing your research my friend

Answer 3

Some States offer tax breaks and rebate for getting solar, so why not take advantage of it, if your gonna get it anyways.

Answer 4

ody

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient” using alternative fuels / energy. I was in the exact same situation as you few years ago.

http://www.agua-luna.com/about_us.html

We do not leave our ranch except about once or twice a year, mainly for travel and vacations.

We raise meat and milk goats, chickens for meat and eggs, ducks for meat and eggs, trap havilina (wild boar pig), rabbit, quail. brew our own beer from home grown products, preserve our fruits, vegetables, etc. smoke and jerky the meat, make our own soap, cheese.

There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. on our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn't happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted).

We’ve lived self sufficiently off the grid for over 5 years now. In 2003 I left an Engineering position with Boeing, sold 2 houses and most of our positions, purchased a small ranch in West Texas near the Mexican border, built a completely green home using 100% recycled and local (rocks, lumber, sand from the ranch) materials, built a wind generator and some solar panels, built a hydrogen generator and converted the vehicles to run on alternative energy, purchased some goats, chickens, ducks, lamas, etc, a composting toilet, water storage tanks, planted crops and fruit trees and settled down for the long run. We typically don’t leave the ranch for 6-8 months at a time, and only then to visit family.

The house is built utilizing natures natural materials, Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

To see some pics of the ranch you can check out my photobucket below, navigate with the tabs on the left (hacienda, misc, guest house, etc), we’re adding every day so be patient and don’t laugh at my scraggly winter beard..

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/ar...

We also built many small cabins on the ranch that we offer to family, friends and our on-site off-grid workshop guests, including one straw bale, one papercrete, earth bag and adobe, one cob and cordwood, one underground and rammed earth, one log and post and beam and one rock.

I later wrote a several guides on how to build with alternative materials, alternative energy / fuels using alternative methods for next to nothing. Anyone interested can check it out at..

http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

As we have no bills, no mortgage and do not pay taxes (buahaha don't tell anyone) we have little use for money (any extra money saved up usually goes towards vacations as we enjoy traveling to mexico).

If you'd like more info on how you can make the transition easily, let me know.

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at http://www.agua-luna.com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% Off-the-Grid with my family, using Alternative Energy & loving every minute.

for more info visit agua-luna com or email me at [e-mail]

Answer 5

Check out the new advancement in solar power technology using cadmium telluride instead of silicone..half the cost of silicone is expected. AVA Solar Inc. is the company through experiments at Colorado State. Enormous potential.

http://welcome.colostate.edu/features/av...

Hip, Hip, Hooray

Answer 6

a wind turbine that produces 1 Kw of electricity is about all you need to supply your home with electric power with enough safety margins, however, you will need a storage system to cover temporary high power use and times when it is not windy enough.

the cost of such a wind turbine and a reasonable mast system would be in the range of 3k$, and you will need a battery pack + DC AC converter, but i have no idea how much these cost.

You could add a solar water heating system on your roof for another 500$

the total would be far less than 18k$ you have to pay for the power link, and of course, you'll save the monthly bill, a saving of 200$ - 400$ a month.

of course, it all depends on how windy and sunny your place is.