And if you've got what it takes to look after yourself, with a little help from some earthy friends, here are a few off-the-grid destinations that will take you in.
Chowdhury, who formerly headed up IT for the Grameen Bank, describes what happened in off-the-grid Bangladeshi villages when her team put solar power and mobile technology into the hands of illiterate women.
With its tree-lined dirt roads, whitewashed cottages and vintage signposts giving distances in miles (South Africa converted to metric in the 1970s), Nieu Bethesda is an off-the-grid destination.
This same approach can be applied to results-based finance for the off-grid market.
For some off-griders, it's a matter of having little or no impact on the environment -- literally living off the power grid.
Meanwhile, the FDA approved the world's first bionic eye and biotech researchers developed a painless sugar-covered vaccine bandage that could replace needles and doesn't require refrigeration -- which opens up groundbreaking applications for off-grid locations in the developing world.
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Such a system does have some obvious limitations when it comes to reaching areas not served by the Maglev, but the filmmakers thought of that too, and developed so-called off-grid cars exemplified by a red Lexus sports coupe in the movie.
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Or they may increase the efficiency of the grid by consuming off-peak load and pushing more kilowatt-hours over the same infrastructure.
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Be you a survivalist, an environmentalist or a cheapskate-ist, you can join the growing movement of Americans embracing off-grid living.
We take off-the-shelf IT and Internet technology and transform the power grid and electricity transmission lines into an energy Internet.
Go Off the Grid with a three-night stay for up to six in a one-bedroom condo at the Aspen at Streamside.
It has been suggested that bringing forward the timing of Winter Fuel Payments for off-grid households might provide some help by enabling them to stock up on fuel at a time of year when prices are likely to lower than in the middle of winter.
These systems weigh less than batteries, which simplifies the logistics required to support military operations in off-grid areas.
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Few people off the grid have the funds to buy the kilowatt-scale solar system commonly found on Gridder homes.
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We also covered several off-grid devices that we'd like to have in the event of another storm of Sandy's magnitude -- Nokero's compact SunRay Pro solar charger, Berkey's super-versatile and effective water filter and Eton's hand-crank cellphone charger.
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The young inventor envisages PaveGen systems being used to power off-grid appliances such as public lighting, illuminated street maps and advertising, and to be installed in areas of dense human traffic such as city centers, underground stations and school corridors.
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The latter's batteries can be charged off the electrical grid (which is almost entirely powered by non-oil fuels) and operate for upwards of twenty miles without using a drop of gasoline, and for a fraction of the cost of oil-based fuels.
They can be used for communications, border patrol initiatives, disaster response, relief missions, and much more, meeting the most demanding infrastructure requirements in on-grid applications and off-grid areas.
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When we think of Earth Day, many of us think of good ol' hippies bent on living off the electrical grid, drinking spring water from somewhere and recycling everything -- bottles, shoes and lint maybe.
When a disaster like Hurricane Sandy knocks out the lights, it's essential to have a source of off-grid power for communication devices like cell phones and radios -- to this end we showcased several portable charging technologies that generate renewable energy.
Strictly defined, Private Health isn't part of the growing phenomenon known as concierge medicine, where doctors charge a retainer for more face-time and personal attention, and often take their practices off the commercial and government payment grid.
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Families who have already weaned themselves off the grid, or opted, when possible, for public transport, veganism, non-exploitation of native species, refusing to wear leather, fur, or exploit animals in any way, need to be rewarded for their benign, cruelty-free (or nearly free) environmental altruism.
In an off-grid village in India, for example, biogas from an anaerobic digester could be burned to drive the Stirling engine to generate power.
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