>>>>>http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
>>>>
>>>>Interesting (and a bit scary).
>>>>
>>>>The 'Energy' section reminded me of an interesting fact I heard yesterday:
>>>>
>>>>The amount of energy delivered to the Earth in one hour by the sun would, if captured, more than meet the entire current energy needs of the world for one year.
>>>
>>>Solar insolation is roughly 1 kW / m^2 .
>>
>>My sister has just installed solar panels. Electricity companies in the UK have, by law, to buy any electricity which you produce by 'green' means at a premium price. That rate for photo-voltaic production is currently 41p per KwH and that is quaranteed for 25 years. This compares with an average purchase price of around 10-14p per KwH. The system she installed cost about £17K and should pay for itself in about 10 years. Of course the normal buying price for energy will probably increase over that period so the differential will be reduced.
>>
>>I think the guaranteed price is also set to drop a little in the near future. But that will only apply to new installations and the cost of the panels, etc is steadily reducing anyway.
>
>I too, have panels and also a windmill that generates a small amount of power. The power company (here in oil and natural gas country) have orders to allow connecting to the grid but they make it so difficult and expensive that ran my own circuits to a few things and cut back on the power bill that way. But, I need larger more powerful panels to get off the grid. I also need to win the lottery.

Are you saying that you would be entitled to the feed-in tariff rates mentioned by Al but your supplier makes it too difficult?
Also, with current electricity costs at the level Al is paying, it would be impossible to make a case for generating your own electricity on purely economic grounds - I paying three times that and it still wouldn't make sense even with the feed-in tarriff.