Off the Grid; Clean Energy Independence

[William Djubin]

While snorkeling in Palm Beach with a local club (Fin Divers Club) we spotted this gem.
A 32' Catamaran Sailboat fully equipt with Wind and Solar power.
The owner may be off the grid, but living on a boat is not too Hurricane Smart.
Probably spends our Hurricane Season south of the Equator.

[Tube]

there are many advantage of developing solar and wind power, for example, when long snow day occur, it might lead to the breakage of the cable and the tower, when the breakage was awful, many family would be influenced, developing solar and wind power can lighten it.

[Digger]

One of my clients went off the grid when she built her new home. Hers is solar power only.

That's here in Ontario, Canada and the cost was roughly $40,000. That runs everything but her heat, for which she uses a wood burning fireplace. There is no reason why the government couldn't provide an incentive for builders developing new areas to go this route.

I'm sure to retrofit would cost substantially more but come on - we got $1000 rebate for purchasing a tiny economic car.

With the growth we are experiencing here, it would take tremendous pressure off hydro stations, which they are always publicly claiming are maxed out anyways. How much does a blackout cost a major metropolis area? I wouldn't even fathom a guess.

To me the government is like the doctor - just try to mask the symptoms instead of solving the root problem.

[William Djubin]

Owners of about 250 homes in the Three Rivers community near this central Oregon lake are far from homesteading or camping out. But they are among a growing number of Americans who shun power lines, choosing to live "off the grid," without commercial power.

Everyone in Three Rivers gets most of their power from dark solar panels on their rooftops or on nearby freestanding structures positioned to more efficiently capture the sun. Some supplement it with energy generated by windmills.

original Media compliments AP-http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18744225/