Off-Grid Homes Considered ‘Weird’ Living?
When Gerry Cunningham started building his Southern Arizona zero-energy home in the 1980s, he likely never dreamed that, after his death this year at the age of 88, his solar-powered house would become famous not for its earth-friendly footprint, but as a contender for one of the nation’s weirdest homes.
The contest is called Top 10 Weirdest Homes in the United States (though you won’t actually find any mention of it at the site). The real estate firm sponsoring it is called Top Ten. The motive is obviously increased traffic and potentially, sales, in a U.S. housing market that is a shadow of its former pre-recession self. The implication, that environmental consciousness equates with peculiarity, is insulting, to say the least.
I’m sure if Cunningham were alive, he’d have plenty to say about the contest, and the paradigm behind it. His home, comprised of two concrete-domed areas tucked into 40 acres of Arizona wilderness, uses solar panels for power; wind power to draw groundwater; passive or “daylighting” captured via south-facing expanses of glass; and skylights highlighted with colored glass sprouting from the desert landscape like colorful cacti.
The home is a prime example of an “earthship” shelter, drawing its insulative capabilities from the earth that almost covers it, so that it remains cool even during a hot Arizona summer day, and warm at night when desert temperatures typically plummet. This passive heating technique also means that most of the solar energy can go for more important functions than heating and cooling.
The fact that the dwelling is considered an oddity is sad testimony to an antiquated home building archetype that sets man against Nature, rather than creating synergy between the two (I’m channeling Cunningham as I write this).
But perhaps not for long. In the coming era of Peak oil and heating/cooling bills from Hell, we may all want to learn to channel Cunningham. In fact, we must, if we want to insure that our home planet has breathable air, drinkable water, and soil capable of growing nourishing food. And what better way to do so than by starting with clean, renewable solar energy systems?
Photo Credit: TopTen Real Estate
Posted on December 13th in Going Solar by Jeanne.
December 14th, 2010 at 7:09 am
I love the idea of going off grid, the issue I see with it is cost and convenience. My mind goes straight to energy sources when going off grid (I work in the solar energy industry), and my second though is energy storage. Batteries and a hassle that I just do not recommend. Additionally, many states have energy tax credits and production incentives, for which off-grid arrays will often not quality.
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The reason why incentives are not available to those living off grid is that you are not helping the grid when you are off of it. From the perspective of solar energy, arrays generate the most energy during periods of peak demand (midday), meaning less energy is needed from high cost, peak demand, coal burning power plants. It costs the electric companies less to offset your solar energy installation than it would to fire up these “peakers.”
December 14th, 2010 at 10:03 am
You’re 100-percent right, Patrick. The issue is storage, and the lack of incentives reflects this off-grid circumstance. I guess my title was meant to reflect my outrage at earthship homes being considered “weird”. The problem is, many earthships are off the grid, simply because the cost of bringing power lines to them is ridiculous. There’s something the utilities and government need to work out.