I have several friends who have been using solar power for years, so I know a bit about it.

Thereare two main types of systems:

Fully remote, where you must have sufficient battery banks to store all the juice made during the day, and the whole system must be large enough to meet all your electric requirements (which for practical reasons means making the requirements much, much lower than normal). In the the north most people have generators for back-up.

Grid-tie system, where you buy as many panels as you can afford or have room for, and it is connected to your house wiring along with the main grid supply. This means all the power produced by the panels as 12vdc current has to be inverted to standard household current. When the panels produce less than required, the deficit comes from the grid, and when they produce more it goes down the line elsewhere and you get credit for it.

Grid-tie has to be connected by a professional electrician, permits will be required, the inverter is expensive, etc. In remote systems battery cost can be overwhelming.

A way to just dabble in it would be to buy a single small panel and charge controller, set it up in a sunny place, and just use it during the day to run small 12v appliances: radio, dctv, 12vdrill, etc.

Moving to country from city is the best thing he could ever do. I was raised and lived in city for about 20 years moved to country you couldnt get me to move back....

Hi there. Home power magazine can give you info on both types of systems. Also there are suppliers listed that can give further info. Backwoods home magazine is also another source.Good luck

Hi, here's a link that won't get you off-grid, but it sure will give you some ideas to spark the creative self-sufficiency! The Solviva book is an introduction to the on-going efforts of one strong-minded, intensely creative woman to live comfortably, differently. The link is to the website with current, ongoing information and services from the Solviva group.

Here is a link that might be useful: Solviva

I really like the solviva page thanks!

Thanks, everyone.

I checked out Solviva and Path to Freedom and liked both. I have PTF saved on Favorites so that I can check their diary entries.

I haven't checked out the magazines yet, but plan to.

Hey,Lori.

I posted a question and a whine about subdividing on the "Buying and Selling Homes" forum. I see you're from Chicago originally. My suggestion is that you move on down here to good ol Southern IL and homestead on the land I want rid of. LOL

We live off the grid. Have 40 acres in the white mountains of NE Arizon. We love it. We have solar panels mounted to a tracker for electricity. We have a wind generator and also a propane generator for back up. We use our gray water for some gardening. Satelite for tv and computer. Need the computer as we make our money on it with our website. We just love it! It is quite expensive tho to get started. We just had our well put in this spring. Prior to that we had water brought in on a truck. Do you actually get enough sun in Chicago to keep batteries charged? Good luck to you.

Mammie, my people are from southern IL... that's why I live in MI! :0)

TwoLips, it's not unusual for us to go two weeks in a row with "mostly clouds," so anything we did would have to be grid-tie or we'd have to plan to have a generator (something DH is not even wanting to consider right now).

I'm concentrating on simply not needing electricity as much (canning, kerosene(?) heater, crank-up radio, getting rid of carpeting, etc.) and I'll have to be content with that.

try countrysidemag.com for homesteaders VangY

A good book on generators & home power independence is 'More Power to You'by H.Skip Thomsen.For info on the book,contact Oregon Wordworks,PO Box D,Mazanita,Oregon 97130
Book is in its 3rd printing.

Michigan is probably one of the worst areas for solar power. Due to the great lakes and airflow from canada make us too cloudy for consistant solar power, saw a program about the area and showed Toledo OH to be the cloudist spot in lower 48
Wind power is a better choice here

Look at http://daycreek.com Alan has a great site about solar and building, etc; and I believe he lives in Mi.

Here is a good site that I enjoy.....www.backwoodshome.com
It's full of information and the people on it are so nice and helpful. They even have a chat room that some members frequent at night during the week.
Kathy