The rising cost of energy is making more people think about off grid living every day. It is now very possible to disconnect from the power grid and make all of your own energy. By utilizing wind turbines or solar panels, many homeowners are generating their own power, assuming their system is sized correctly. By producing some of your own electricity, you can take at least a small step towards off grid living.

We will discuss solar power first. Solar panels are a great option for supplying power to many homes and can work in all parts of the world, even in remote areas or places with a harsh environment. Some hardware and plenty of sun are the only requirements. If you'd like to build your own solar panel, the best guide I've found is GreenDIYEnergy.  You can build a solar power system that is as large or small as required and it can even be portable if your living arrangements are mobile. Solar panels can last more than 20 years if properly cared for. They are tough and require very little maintenance.

Any solar power system will include a number of solar panels that are connected together. In the northern hemisphere, solar panels should be pointed directly south for maximum power output. With older solar panels, it was more important that they point directly at the sun and many solar power systems used motors to rotate the panels so they always pointed directly at the sun, however with more modern panels this is less important.With more modern solar panels, it is less important that they point directly at the sun, but older solar power systems often had motors to rotate the panels as the sun moved across the sky. With modern solar panels, as long as they are pointed due south and at the proper vertical angle, stationary panels will work almost as well as ones driven by motors.  For another good guide to building a your own solar panel take a look at Build Solar Panel.

Direct Current (DC) electricity is produced by solar cells and can be used to charge batteries to power any DC appliance. Charging batteries can be useful to provide power when the sun isn’t shining, like at night after the sun goes down.

A power inverter can be used to convert the DC electricity from solar panels into the AC electricity that standard appliances around your house require. A power inverter can be used to do the DC to AC conversion on power coming from either the solar panels or from batteries.

A wind turbine can also be used to generate the power that will enable you to begin living off grid. You can mount a modern wind turbine on a pole or tower, or perhaps even on the roof of your home. These modern wind turbines are fairly small and quite efficient. Wind turbine can generate power at night, which is an advantage over solar panels. As long as the wind is blowing, a wind turbine can produce electricity.  For a great guide to building your own wind turbine, check out Earth4Energy Review.

It is possible to combine both solar panels and a wind generator in one system. Both solar panels and wind turbines generate DC electricity so you can use the same batteries and power inverter with both. At night the wind turbine can produce power as long as there is a breeze and on calm, sunny days the solar panels can take over and generate electricity.

Using either or both of these systems can provide enough electricity to enable you to pull the plug and start living off grid. They can allow you to take your first step toward complete off grid living.