A passive solar home in the Sandia Mountains above Albuquerque.

Living Off the Grid

June / July 2004 By: Eric Billingsley Volume 2 Number 3

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A year ago, my wife and I finally did it. After a decade of dreaming about what it would be like to live off of the electricity grid, in a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, we built ourselves a solar-powered home.

After scouring possible building sites in Arizona and New Mexico, we finally purchased land on the western slope of the Sandia Mountains outside Albuquerque. The area sits at about 7,000 feet elevation on a south-facing slope, which is crucial for solar construction because the sun drops closer to the southern horizon during winter months.

There we realized our dream; a 2,600 sq. ft., four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home, all of the electricity for which is provided by six solar panels on our roof. We spared no expense when it came to installing modern amenities, including washer, dryer, dishwasher, computer, satellite television and more.

Now, after our first year's plunge into solar living, we stand a bit humbled and wiser by the experience.

On the tougher side of the learning curve, we realized the law of supply and demand when it comes to powering all of our modern amenities with solar. And that some modern appliances are not compatible with solar electricity. On the bright side, we learned that our home design uses natural heating and cooling very efficiently and, with a little conservation, we still live a pretty normal lifestyle.

Our year-end conclusion about living off the grid is this: Contrary to many people's belief, it is economically feasible and compatible with a desire for a modern lifestyle. However, to accomplish this takes planning.

One of the first priorities in building a solar home is designing a solar system that will meet the demands of your household. We have two young children and a nanny.The solar array consists of six solar panels, approximately four feet tall and three and a half feet wide. The panels are capable of generating 1,440 watts of electricity stored in 20 industrial- grade batteries. The stored electricity is pumped through two inverters, which convert the direct current into a mimicked alternating current to serve the home.

We spent approximately $18,000 on the whole system. However, shortly after moving in we realized our well pump could only be used during peak sun hours, otherwise it would tax our power reserves because of the amount of electricity it uses. The "Energystar rated" refrigerator still uses nearly a third of our electric capacity. And the dishwasher ended up being another major drag on the system because of the amount of electricity needed to charge the heating element.

This reality forced us to only use high-energy appliances, with the exception of the refrigerator, during peak sun hours. This allows the solar system to re-charge throughout the day after using the appliance. The other option is to increase the amount of solar panels, which is not financially feasible for us at this time, or use our back-up generator when supplies get low.

A 1,400-watt, 40-amp system, such as ours, is about half the amount of power being generated by others in our neighborhood. There are a total of 13 homes, all of which average 2,600 to 2,800 watts. They typically have 12 or more solar panels. Some also have panels to heat water.

The amount of money invested in a solar array is directly equivalent to the amount of convenience and ease desired. Some in the neighborhood have spent as much as $50,000 to power a 3,000 sq. ft. home.

My neighbor, 76-year-old Walter Webb, has lived off the grid since 1979. He and his wife, Ann, first used only a generator and gas lights to power the home. In 1985 they invested $2,400 in 24 solar panels that produce approximately 40 amps of electricity. In addition he spent $1,500 on batteries and a lot of sweat building the rack to support his panels. They later purchased eight additional panels.

"My solar system has performed fine ever since then," says Webb, except when lightning struck one of his components. The only major bummer has been replacing batteries every few years.

Despite our solar system not handling our electricity demand as easily as we would have liked, the one area in which we triumphed is the architectural design of the house. We built a classic passive solar, two-story, south-facing home to capture the stunning views of our area. We placed all four of the bedrooms downstairs. The upstairs has an open floor plan, with kitchen, living room, and family room all blending as one. The upstairs also has clerestory windows to release any heat that builds up in the house and approximately 12 windows surrounding, the south, west and east faces. The whole house is heated by radiant floor heat.

The design works well for a number of reasons.

First, and most important, the design was economical. We used conventional stick-frame building techniques. And when it was all said and done, we spent $200,000 to build a turnkey solar home, which includes $37,000 for the land.

Southern exposure allows for passive solar heating and lighting of the home during the day. Our twelve windows upstairs plus the clerestory windows allow us to capture breezes during the summer, which naturally cools the upstairs. We do not have air conditioning and have not suffered yet.

Placing the bedrooms downstairs also helps keep the sleeping quarters cool during the summer. We chose to insulate all of the interior walls and ceilings. Downstairs bedrooms maintain a constant 65 degrees during the summer. During the winter, the bedrooms also retain heat very well.

The benefit of using radiant floor heat is that every room has a thermostat.
This allows a person to only heat specific areas versus hallways and other spaces rarely used. In the past year, we have only used approximately 800 gallons of propane to cook, bathe and heat the home.

What we have learned in the past year is that our idealistic dream of living off the grid is a practical reality. With the advent of satellite technology for television and Internet and more affordable solar technology, one does not have to give "rough it" anymore.

Before going solar, we paid an average of $200 per month to heat our conventional, non-solar home in another section of Albuquerque during the winter. Our electricity bill was nearly the same to run the air conditioner in the summer. So we were shelling out at least $2,000 per year in utility costs. At that rate, our humble 1,440-watt solar system, which provides us with most of the power we need, will pay for itself in nine years.

Designing a house to use passive solar is also no more expensive than a conventional dwelling and in the end it saves money in utility costs.

Does living off the grid take some sacrifice? Yes, it requires people to be aware and take responsibility for their power usage. As natural gas and petroleum become more expensive, conservation and smart home design is eventually going to be required by all people. Maybe we're among the first to get there, with no regrets.

Eric Billingsly is a freelance writer based in Albuquerque.