"Technology has given us the ability to make electrical power anywhere, on any rooftop or in any backyard," said Richard Perez, the publisher of Home Power. Perez, who was Tuesday's main guest, has been living off the grid since 1970, in a remote mountainous area in Oregon. The current power grid is an overtaxed and aging system he pointed out. Rather than sink more money into it, he argued for the use of home power through solar panels. These panels, either mounted on a roof or the ground, produce energy through their photovoltaic cells that is stored in large batteries. Interestingly, when the batteries reach capacity, the power can be fed back into the standard electrical grid, and a residents' electric meter will actually spin backwards, Perez explained. Another bonus of this situation, he said, is that the excess power can be distributed locally to neighbor's homes, alleviating the expensive process of sending electricity long distances along power lines. While not ev ... More »