Solar Panels (Polycrystaline Photo Voltaic Cells)

Energy efficient ('off the grid') Southern Vermont home features:

Electricity generation
2 turbine windmills
2 kinds of solar panels (rigid and amorphous/strips)

Heating/Water
Russian stove (closed chamber wood stove, thermal mass heating system)
solar water heating panels
gas powered radiant heating in the floor.

Low Energy Lighting & Appliances
Because of careful selection of lighting and appliances, the house is able to run within its energy budget almost all of the time.

After 2 years of running completely off-grid (with backup gasoline generator), we installed electricity (a "grid tie"), mostly used to feed excess capacity back into the grid.

Hints and Links on home energy consumption:
There are 2 ways to decrease home energy use.
1. Reduce power consumption.
2. Install a renewable energy system

The first can be as simple as replacing high usage incandescent bulbs with new compact flourescent bulbs and lighting fixtures. Around here, you can buy these products at a discount thru programs sponsored by the electric company (NStar).

Another good idea is replacing old appliances with newer energy efficient models.

There is a lot of information about energy saving here :
www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/

If you are interested in solar energy or other sustainable energy generation technologies, I suggest taking a look at www.homepower.com/ a magazine dedicated to "home-scale renewable energy and sustainable living".

This site has an overview article on Renewable Energy which is relatively short and clear. www.homepower.com/files/featured/HP116_pp46-50_Casale.pdf

Contact: For more information about energy efficient living you can write Paul at myerspe@starband.net

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