Thinking Outside the (Power)Box

So, I've been doing even more research into sustainable (what?) technologies. I really enjoy learning about these kinds of things, I have to say. I don't know what exactly it is that draws me to it, but I just love imagining new kinds of technology and applications for these things. The stranger, the better, I say.

Obviously, the first place I started looking for alternative energy sources was photovoltaics. I'm not really a fan of solar panels to be truthful, I think that they use a lot more energy to create than they need to, and the fact that they wear down over time is a huge downside for me. Nonetheless, it's a very established energy source, and it certainly warrants investigation if you want to generate electricity.

The most interesting book I found was called "Off the Grid Homes", and the nicest thing about it is that it was published in 2007. The houses are beautiful, and the systems are recent, and the solutions seem pretty ingenious at times, but I always notice a few key things about these houses that bother me a bit.

The houses are always in rural areas, in order to take maximum advantage of the sun. The climates they're placed in are almost always very temperate, or very hot, never in conditions that swing like the conditions in Winnipeg. The other thing, which is strange considering the name of the book, is that all of the houses have backup systems that will put them back on the grid in case the occupants overload the system.

What if you have no redundancies? What if you can't relocate to a rural area? What if you live in a climate like Winnipeg? Everyone seems to want to explore sustainability, but no one seems to want to push the boundaries and come up with solutions for less than optimal climates. No one wants to do without, either, which is a problem to be reckoned with, because at some point, people are going to have to give up a few things to do their part.