My father bought a gas generator which we had to run for several hours a day just to accumulate enough electricity to power a small radio and a couple of electric lights to use for several hours each evening. Since we were using gasoline, I guess you wouldn't say we were completely free, but gas in those days only cost about 30 cents a gallon and was plentiful. We had a large forested acreage and my sisters and I could hike far up in the hills and find our way back by following the sound of the gas motor. (My mother wasn't all that happy with it though. The sound nearly drove her crazy.) A few years later, electricity was brought up our road, but we still got our water from a spring for drinking and from a nearby stream for washing clothes, baths, etc. Nice memories now, but they didn't seem so exciting then when our grandmother and many friends who lived only a few miles away had all the conveniences of electricity and city water.

Thanks for the informative post. I did not have any idea that so many people live off the grid now. It is something that I aspire to do but currently lack the time and money to install a system. +1