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living off the grid, or tying into it, benefits the world and your wallet. By Andi Diehn

a 7kw solar system in south woodstock sold and installed by grosolar in white river junction, vermont

e may be off-grid, but we still have lights!” says Daniel Bergamini who lives in Grantham, New Hampshire — and to say he has lights is an understatement. Four photovoltaic panels in the backyard gather enough energy from the sun to power their entire house. This includes their stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, and yes, their lights. An off-grid building is one that uses only renewable energy collected on the property, usually through photovoltaic solar panels or a wind turbine. The collected energy is often stored in a bank of batteries for rainy or windless days. A true off-grid home is not connected to a local utility company’s existing power grid.

Why People Do It

One of the major reasons for building a home off-grid is location. As Brett Toefel of ReKnew Energy Systems in South Strafford says, “Primarily off-grid homes are built because people love a location, but the power company does not have close availability of retail power.” Here in the Upper Valley, where people often move for the privacy and beautiful views afforded by our rural landscape, great distances between wires and homes is common. The further a home is from existing wires, the more expensive it is to connect to the electric grid. Brett Toefel and Cecily Herzig of South Strafford, Vermont, opted to build their house off-grid, because connecting to the grid would have cost $10,000.

Concern for the environment is another reason why people choose to build off-grid. Bergamini’s wife, Elaina, says, “It feels so good sitting outside on a sunny day and knowing that we are making our own power. We all have the opportunity to limit our home’s environmental footprint by using energy that is right in front of our noses.”

this house features a 1.54kw solar system and a solar domestic hot water system—both sold and installed by grosolar

For people who aren’t planning on building a new house in the next few years, and who want to live off-grid but don’t want to replace their entire system, options called grid tie-ins might make sense. “With many states offering generous rebates to on-grid electricity customers who install solar or wind, many on-grid customers are choosing to install systems,” says Brett. “More than half the new sales of solar electricity systems are now on-grid applications.”

States and towns are coming up with other incentives for grid tie-ins as well. New Hampshire offers net metering, which is when any energy a grid-tied home makes and does not use is sold to the energy company for money or credit. Some New Hampshire towns also offer tax exemptions. Vermont offers net metering as well — and it also gives rebates for the purchase of efficient appliances and installation of renewable energy systems within certain guidelines. Sales tax exemptions for system components are also available.

In addition to local incentives, the federal government’s Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides that homeowners who install energy-efficient appliances or renewable-energy devices, like photovoltaic panels, may qualify for federal tax credits.

Wind, Solar, or Hydro

For people considering an off-grid home, or a grid tie-in, it’s important to keep in mind the resources available on their specific property. “If the property has a spot near the house site, or on the house with good exposure to the south from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the site is probably a good candidate for solar.”

Wind turbines, while able to produce more energy than photovoltaic modules, can be slightly more problematic. Because the parts of a wind turbine are moving parts, they tend to need more attention than the stationary components of photovoltaic panels. Climbing that 100 feet or more every time a spring breaks is not a feat to be taken lightly. Another difficulty with wind turbines is that they may often require the owner to obtain a Certificate of Public Good. Photovoltaic panels and wind turbines are the most common devices used to harvest energy, but hydrosystems are fairly common, too. A micro-hydro system consisting of a small water turbine and a generator can be placed in a stream near your house to harvest energy by forcing a shoot of water through a small water turbine. Because Upper Valley streams tend to freeze in the winter and dry up in the summer, a micro-hydro system in these parts is not a good primary energy source.

solar panel installation

In addition to implementing systems that harvest energy to support an off-grid house, off-grid builders design homes for energy efficiency. Dan and Elaina’s house boasts an open floor plan that allows their centrally located woodstove to easily heat their 1,100 square feet of space. Skylights invite natural light and warming sun into the main room, and windows are well placed to catch the summer breeze. Also, their wall and ceiling insulation is much thicker than the norm.

Not too long ago, living off-grid was associated with living in seclusion, but this is no longer the case. With the technologies listed above, people living off-grid today are able to enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the wilderness without having to rough it. Not to mention these individuals are always doing right by the environment and usually by their wallets, too.

a micro hydro system The benefit of back up Many off-grid homeowners have a generator handy in case the batteries run down before they can be recharged. Daniel and Elaina Bergamini, hear their self-activated generator kick on about once a day during the winter, but summer is a different story. With plenty of sun, they may hear the generator once a week at the most. One advantage to off-grid living is the way lights might go out all over town on a stormy night, except for those houses running on battery. “When areas around us are out of power due to a storm or other event we are up and running,” says Cecily Herzig.

a cabin completely off the grid Off-grid appliances Energy efficiency is important when choosing appliances for an off-grid home. Appliances with Energy Star ratings, compact fluorescent lights, propane powered stoves— are all good choices for lowering energy consumption. An appliance power meter is handy for discovering how much wattage each appliance uses. Then those kilowatt hours can be reduced by replacing appliances, light bulbs, electric clocks, and by changing habits like leaving the lights on when no one is in the room.