Events

Keeping in the theme of kindness during this holiday season we wanted to highlight the Make it Right 9 organization that is dedicated to building 150 new energy and earth responsible houses for the Lower 9th Ward residents of New Orleans.

The effort for fundraising to make this dream a reality started on December 3, 2007 and already by today 37 of the 150 houses have been sponsored. If you don’t have a spare $150,000 laying around to sponsor an entire house you can sponsor anything from a light bulb, $5, to solar panels, $25,000, to a tree, $200.

You can take around and inside the house and see what earth and people friendly products they are planning on using. As you take the virtual tour you can see how small and large donations alike can add up to a wonderfully energy responsible house for a lucky resident of the Lower Ninth Ward.

Looking at this from an energy and earth responsible view it can be seen how this unique opportunity can show how it is possible to build and live in a more self-sufficient way without giving up our most beloved modern conveniences. As this will be done on a community scale so the advantages will be more easily seen by outsiders. Trying to show skeptics how being responsible for our own energy needs is not only the right thing to do but economically and environmentally sound can be grueling when doing it one home at a time.

We applaud the Make It Right 9 organization for not only helping those that time seemed to have forgotten but for not taking the easy road and throwing money at it, but for making a plan that not only will enable the residents to live again , but hopefully to thrive.

Since this is such an interest to The Off-Grid Home we have started a page dedicated to keeping you up to date on Make It Righ 9. …

According to CNN.com San Francisco may become the most affordable place to go solar in the US. San Francisco has developed an enterprising plan to help it’s residents and businesses use the sun’s limitless power to supply their energy needs.

It was announced Tuesday, Dec 10,2007 that they plan to offer additional rebates, along with state and federal, as well loans for the remaining cost. They would be available to both residents and businesses located in the San Francisco.

The idea behind only chosing solar for these perks may have something to do with what Mayor Newsom said. “The reality is the climate in the Bay Area, the climate in San Francisco specifically, is ideally situated for solar.” Unfortunately other alternative energy sources will not be recieving these additional benefits.

With this plan the up front cost of solar electric systems could be greatly reduced and then paid for over 20 years. Which could be under or around $100 a month, depending on interest charged, for the estimated cost left of $11,000 – $12,000 after all rebates are taken. Though rebates would be applied for by the homeowner, they are expected to be paid to the contractor who would then take it off the price of the system. These rebate can range from $3,000 to $5,000 for residential use and up to $10,000 for business. With the available $7,000 state rebate and additional $2,000 tax credit already available to residents of California that makes the estimated cost of a 3-kilowatt roof solar electric system of $24,000, a lot more manageable, $12,000 or less.

A thing to worry about is that as they are advertising this plan it still needs to be approved by the voters for the loan portion of the plan. With the rebate portion just needing the approval of the Board of Supervisors.…

South Daytona, Fl is having difficulty with their only power company, Florida Power & Light.

According to Daytona Beach News-Journal online that due to the problems they are experiencing the city has hired a consultant to see what options are available to them, including solar and other alternative power.

The news article from Monda, December 10, 2007 states that the city is having difficulty renewing terms with the company among them that the city has the option to buy the utility, and it’s franchise fee of 6% of sales, about $700,000 annually. Previous problems with customer going without power for days due to procedures have already made council members angry at the high handed dealings with the utility.

Believing that the company is playing unfair by contracting all local experts on pr and attorneys on retainer so that a conflict of interest can be made if the city cannot work fast enou

This story just highlights the power utilities have not only over us as individuals but the cities, communities, and states we live in. The customers of these power providers are truly at their mercy and we even have to pay to be that. We are not against mainstream power as much as believe it’s time of need is passed. When producing energy entailed large, dirty machines then yes it should be done for the masses in an offsite facility, but that is no longer the case. As with any technology it has grown to be friendly and clean. We now have the potential for each household to produce the power that they need, with some to spare if need be.

If we continue to rely on someone else to make our energy then we must also accept that we might need to add an extra place at our tables, in our homes, and even in our beds for them. If a city can see that going self-sufficient in energy is a viable option then we as individuals should also be seeing it as one.…