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first look at their electric bills and see how much power they need to live off the grid.
Also important, he said, is an efficient home. Things like good insulation, double-paned windows and other energy-efficient aspects are needed.
And it’s often easier to start from scratch than it is to convert an older home.
“If you’re going to build new, you can put alternative energy in anything,” he said.
Growing trend
Richard Perez, publisher of Home Power magazine, has been following the development of off-the-grid power for about 20 years.
He estimates that more than 180,000 homes are off the grid in the United States. And that is a number that he believes is growing by roughly 33 percent a year.
Perez said more people are moving to remote areas, and the cost of extending lines to individuals is costly.
“It’s the same pressure that’s always been driving off-grid use,” he said.
“Power companies and utilities are in a maintenance mode; they’re not in a growth mode,” Perez explained. “Prices for extending lines are very expensive.
“If you’re about a quarter of a mile from the end of the power line, it’s less expensive to build a solar-powered system,” he said.
All over the nation, from the
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