Having made the choice to live "off the grid" when the cost to run power to my home site was $14,000 in 1980, I did not know at the time that I was embarking on a pioneering adventure. Initially the solution was kerosene lamps, wood stoves and frozen pipes but I soon tired of cleaning lamp chimneys and filling lamps every two days.

Vermont’s net metering law allows feeding back to the grid all or part of your usage. Most power companies in Vermont will credit you six cents per kilowatt hour for all your solar generation which can be applied to your service charges and fees. However,the power company will not pay you for excess power sent into the grid over and above your annual usage.