Going Off-Grid without Sacrificing Luxury

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The term "off-grid" refers to people opting off of the local utilities power grid and deciding to provide for all of their own power needs through solar, wind, or other means.

Early pioneers of the off-grid movement usually had to go without a lot of what today’s folk would call necessities: plentiful electricity, heating, hot water, etc.

But because the option is becoming more popular, off-grid "kits" and how-to instructions are easier to find, and the materials needed, like solar panels and wind power converters, are being offered at lower prices.

This means that providing one’s own power has become more accessible to the average Joe.

By this time next year, the cost of solar power is expected to drop by half, at the same time that grid power is expected to rise. Jenny Chase, a representative from New Energy Finance, told reporters at the Financial Times, "We expect there to be overcapacity from the second half of 2009."

Some people are really getting into the spirit of things and deciding to band together to go off-grid. Self-sustaining "eco-villages" are receiving a lot of press of late, and some are completely independent of any corporate utilities. Abundance Ecovillage in Iowa is a good example of what is happening in the community off-grid movement.

The "village" currently has about fourteen homes, and is completely self-sustaining. It derives power from its own wind turbines and solar panels, uses filtered rainwater and a pond for water, and employs a constructed wetlands area to process sewage.

An extra $35,000 fee is required from new homeowners to cover the cost of the additional power sources and community projects, and most say they don’t mind. Stacey Hurlin, one of the homeowners, told reporters, "It’s remarkable how little we’ve had to compromise our lifestyle to live here," said Hurlin. "I can’t say I’m living a sparse life. It’s a lovely home."

All of the homeowners at Abundance Ecovillage have voluntarily installed energy-saving appliances, which further reduces their need for power.

And guess what? The people living there don’t have to give up "essentials" like Internet connection and hot showers. As the project’s developer Lonnie Gamble told the press, "Their showers are just as hot and their beer is just as cold."

But you don’t have to live in an eco-friendly village these days to go off-grid. There are magazines and websites like Off-Grid.net (http://www.off-grid.net), which advise consumers how to buy and install solar panels, the costs involved in deciding to supply one’s own power, and even how to brew home diesel from discarded vegetable oils. Articles like "20 Ways to Eco-Pimp Your Home" offer tips for going completely off-grid, or just taking small steps in that direction.

Celebrities like Daryl Hannah, Ed Begley Jr., and Kristin Davis have all become off-gridders, lending their names and publicity to the cause.

"I’m off the grid. I have a ladder that I climb up and I check my solar panels. They cover the whole roof, in LA, where there’s a lot of sun," says Kristin Davis to Off-Grid.net reporters. "And when the sun is shining, you can go and look and your electrical meter and it’s spinning backwards! It’s very exciting."

The ecological implications are obvious. With oil and gas prices soaring, the environment heating up by the day, more and more people are concerned about their carbon "footprints." It’s no wonder that concepts like eco-living and living off-grid are leaving the fringe and starting to hit the mainstream.