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A 7kw solar system in south woodstock
sold and installed by Grosolar in
White River Junction, Vermont
We 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.”
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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.”r.
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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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