Off-the-grid houses in Vermont and New Jersey

Two experiences of living without an electricity provider

The number of houses in the U.S.A. that are not connected to the electricity grid is growing steadily (see recent blog post). Their reasons for and methods of going off the grid vary considerably, as shown by the examples of Ben Hewitt and Mike Strizki.

The cheapest way of powering a remote dwelling

The energy system of Ben Hewitt’s house in rural Vermont more or less grew spontaneously. The parcel where he built his house was cheap, in part because it was not connected to the electricity grid. He started off with wood for heating, propane for cooking and hot water, and a diesel generator for electricity. Aiming to reduce his dependency on oil, six years later he installed 1.14 kW of photovoltaic (PV) cells, leaving the diesel generator in place as a back-up for dark, cloudy winter days. While 1.14 kW may seem inadequate, Hewitt has been able to reduce the electricity consumption of his 205 m² house to 3 kWh a day. The average American household uses 29 kWh a day.

Hewitt’s neighbour, Lee Richard, however, is not convinced of the advantages of going off the grid. He installed a 3 kW PV system on his grid-connected house. His big advantage is that he can rely on the grid for ‘storage’ and ‘back-up’.

A solar-hydrogen house with zero emissions

Mike Strizki in East Amwell, New Jersey, went off the grid in a much more methodical way and has succeeded in supplying all of his domestic energy needs by photovoltaic power. Instead of electro-chemical batteries and a back-up diesel generator, he is storing the excess energy of the solar-powered system as hydrogen gas. The hydrogen fuels a generator during periods of reduced sunlight. In this way he has lowered the carbon emissions of his large and well-equipped house to zero.

This kind of energy system is not affordable for everybody, costing about $500,000. Half of this amount was paid by a grant from the State of New Jersey, but Strizki does not want to halt green systems at his own house. He is developing a mass production unit modelled after his home energy system, aiming to bring the cost down to about $60,000.