By ReutersInformationWeek
When he bought this breezy patch of scrub-covered
mountaintop with views to Mexico more than two decades ago, he
was one of only a few Americans with an interest in wind- and
solar-powered homes.
Now, Bogatay is surrounded by 15 neighbors who, like him,
live off the electricity grid, with power from solar panels and
wind turbines that he either built or helped to install.
"People used to be attracted to living off-grid for largely
environmental reasons, although that is now changing as energy
prices rise," he said, standing in blazing sunshine with a wind
turbine thrashing the air like a weed whacker overhead.
Spry and energetic, Bogatay makes few sacrifices for his
chosen lifestyle. He has a small, energy saving refrigerator,
but otherwise his house is like any other, with satellite
television and a computer with Internet service.
"Electric and gas are going to skyrocket very soon. There
are going to be more reasons for doing it, economic reasons,"
he said.
Bogatay and his neighbors at the 120-acre development are
among a very small but fast-growing group of Americans opting
to meet their own energy needs as power prices surge and home
repossessions grow.
Once the domain of a few hardy pioneers, the dispersed
movement is now attracting not just a few individuals and
families, but institutions and developers building subdivisions
that meet their own energy needs.
"It has its roots in 1970s hippy culture and survivalism,
but it has now superceded that completely," said Nick Rosen, a
trend analyst and author of the book "How to Live Off-Grid."
"Because of technology advancing ... and because of high
house and energy prices ... there are a lot more people moving
off grid."
INCENTIVES, FALLING COSTS
Rosen estimates that there are as many as 350,000 U.S.
households meet their own energy needs, and growing at 30
percent a year.
"As people are losing their homes, or finding the rent or
mortgage too much to pay, they are choosing the off-grid
alternative because it is so much cheaper," Rosen said
While installation costs for the solar panels, wind
turbines, converters and batteries needed to power up an
off-grid home were prohibitively expensive a few years back,
improved technology and ramped up production has driven down
costs significantly.
Popular solar-powered systems are made by Sharp Corp
, Kyocera Corp and silicon Valley-based
Nanosolar, among others, and according to the website Low
Impact Living (click on http://www.lowimpactliving/),
installation costs have fallen by more than 80 percent over 20
years.
"The cost is falling all the time as there is more and more
manufacturing plant coming onstream. In fact, there may even be
a glut in solar panels next year which would be very good news
for the consumers," said Rosen.
Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S is one of the
leaders in wind turbine technology.
Ten U.S. states, from California in the West to New Jersey
and Pennsylvania on the eastern seaboard, offer incentives
including grants and tax credits for solar panel installation
under policies seeking a shift to renewable energies.
Power utilities such as Arizona Public Service, the
principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp, is
among utilities in several U.S. states that offer subsidies to
consumers planning to meet their own power needs, so as to ease
demand for a growing on-grid customer base.
"Not only is it getting cheaper to generate non-grid
electricity, but it's getting cheap and comfortable to set up
your off-grid home, and there are even bonuses from your local
utility company for doing so," Rosen said.
FOLLOWING THE MONEY
One clear sign that the off-grid lifestyle is moving more
mainstream is that developers and other organizations starting
to look at off-grid alternatives, drawn by both environmental
arguments and simply the bottom line.
Lonnie Gamble, a developer behind an off-grid subdivision
in rural Iowa called Abundance Ecovillage, offers plots at
$40,000 that include free wind and solar power from shared
systems, as well as water from a rainwater collection system,
waste recycling and access to shared amenities including a
farm.
The cost of building such a home is little different from
that of building any other home, and with a range of energy
sipping appliances such as refrigerators, hi-fis and even
hairdryers now available, the forced austerity associated with
off-grid living is also changing.
"You can have hot showers and a cold beer," said Gamble.
"You have no water bill, no sewer bill, no power bill and you
can harvest something fresh from the greenhouse ... why would
you ever do anything else?"
They are not alone. The Los Angeles Community College
District, meanwhile, is steering a drive to take all nine of
the district's campuses off-grid this year.
Larry Eisenberg, the district's executive director for
facilities planning and development, estimates that, with a
combination of incentives including tax credits, grants and
rebates, switching to alternative energy will not cost them
anything, and will save them $10 million a year in power costs
going forward.
"When we began, it was to fulfil our sustainable mandate
and fulfil our alternative energy policy, but it eventually
became a budget strategy," Eisenberg said, adding that it also
had educational value for the district's 180,000 students, who
can study the shift as part of their curriculum.
CONTINUING GROWTH
With rising power prices, falling installation costs, and a
web of incentives to switch, analysts like Rosen believe the
number of users turning to off-grid living in the United States
is set to grow to 4 to 5 million in the next five to 10 years.
"I don't think we are going to see half the population of
America going off-grid, ever. But I do think, we are going to
see continued growth," he said.
Rosen also believes that more people still hooked up to the
utilities will switch to energy saving appliances, saving money
and becoming "off-grid ready" in the process.
For those who have already embarked on the adventure and
have adapted to a lifestyle of eking out their energy sources,
with houses designed to maximize light, retain warmth or
circulate air for cooling, there is no turning back.
"I like being my own power company," said Chris Allen, a
neighor of Bogatay's who has lived off-grid for several years.
"I wouldn't take their electricity if they brought it to my
back door. Living like this is financially and mentally very
healthy."
(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Eddie Evans)
(For pix click on
http://www.reuters/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=USN2526865120080526&channelName=environmentNews#a=1)
By: Tim Gaynor
Copyright 2008 Reuters. See original article on InformationWeek
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