So How
Does One
Get Off
the Grid?

by
Dennis Keim

 

Dennis Keim briefly talks us through a procedure of how to start planning and thinking about getting off the grid.

There are four key concepts to keep in mind when converting to renewable energy systems.  Those key concepts are: Measure, Conserve, Replace and Supply. 

Measure - The first step is to determine your current energy demands.  In this step, you’ll examine the quantity and quality of energy you use and the times at which you use it.  

            Is the use for high grade energy demands, like running a computer, or low grade energy demands like space heating?  What kinds of lifestyle issues tie into your energy usage patterns and can some of the more wasteful of those practices be modified over the long run?  What is your peak electrical energy use and what causes it?

Conserve - After you’ve done the inventory of energy usage by type, time of day, quantity, etc., it’s time to consider how to reduce consumption to a minimum.  Always keep in mind that saving a kilowatt-hour (kWh) is usually much cheaper than making one. 

You might find, for example, that investing in extremely high-efficiency refrigerators, dishwashers and other appliances will make a major dent in your electrical consumption.  These units might be uneconomical given commercial grid supplied kWh costs (at least for this month in California) but they may make a lot of sense once you start considering the cost of  the larger renewable energy system you’ll have to buy to handle that extra wasteful electrical load. 

            This approach is similar to the current use of digital watches. These watches, like renewable energy systems, supply electricity at a high cost per kWh.  This high cost of supply is largely irrelevant to the watch wearing consumer because the energy consumption in kilowatts (kW) is extremely small.  Thus reducing demand is critically important in keeping renewable energy installation costs down.

Replace - Generating electricity is an expensive proposition that provides a very useful high grade product.  If you have a task that is using electricity and it can be replaced with a less expensive lower grade energy source, it usually is a good idea to do so.  One example would be using electricity to heat water.  In most cases, it would be much less expensive to replace the electrical heating load with solar thermal panels than with wind or solar supplied electricity.

Supply - As a final step, you’ll have to examine what kind of natural energy resources you have in your area.  What kind of monthly wind speed averages do you have?  Can you put a tower up in your neighborhood and if so how high?  Are there obstructions to the flow of the wind to your location?  How many sunny days per month do you get?  Are there obstacles like trees or buildings that are blocking your access to the sun when you need it?

            With this information along with the lean mean energy efficient home machine you’ve developed in the previous steps, you can start to size up what kind of system you will need to completely disconnect from the grid and if that is going to work for you financially.

Resources - As is noted in the original question, the devil is often in the details.  To get to those details you can either hire an expert to take care of all these issues or you can access a few good references and do most, if not all of it, yourself. 

Educating yourself on the basics of solar and wind energy is getting much easier than it used to be.  Getting an issue of Home Power magazine from a local newsstand, or as an Adobe Acrobat document from their web site, is a good start.  Home Power is usually packed with many interesting projects, resources and inspirations that might be of assistance in your particular situation.

            The latest free catalog from the Real Goods people, or browsing it online, might also be of some help.  They are a solar equipment supplier and also appear to have a quality selection of books on just about every aspect of renewable energy implementation.  As always, shop around and educate yourself to be a good consumer before you make any purchases from any supplier.

Home Power Magazine, P.O. Box 520
Ashland, OR 97520 / 800-707-6585 (Subscriptions) www.homepower.com

Real Goods, 13771 S. Highway 101
Hopland, CA 95449 / 707-744-2100
www.realgoods.com

Local SLO resident Dennis Keim can be reached at dkeim@sfworlds.com