Feasibility of off-grid residential power

Abstract

Major emphasis is placed in today's technological society of being “green.” Being energy efficient and using renewable resources are strongly encouraged in many different aspects of life. One way environmentalists tout of being able to save the planet is through the use of solar panels or wind turbines to power one's home. Many renewable energy companies boast of being able to take one's household off the power grid or lower one's power bill by utilizing their respective renewable energy devices. This paper will explore the feasibility of these claims and determine whether it is actually economically or aesthetically possible to take one's home off the power grid and utilize a personal energy source. The areas being explored will range from wind turbines, solar panels, personal capacitor banks, solar water heaters, etc. A determination will be made at the end of the paper of whether an average family in Pensacola could indeed live off the power grid.