Off the grid but plugged in

The Johnson family who live on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico had this solar and wind power generator installed in February of this year. The system, which has a battery to store about two days' worth of energy, costs $75 a month in a rent-to-buy arrangement with the local utility, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. The utility owns and maintains the system during the leasing period. This distributed generation unit replaced a diesel generator, which was harder to maintain and operate.