Should I go off-grid in the city?

I’ve taken some serious flak for having this opinion, but in my humble view, off-grid systems are not (at this point in time) worth the expense if you have access to the traditional grid - for reasons I outline here.

However, for all those people out there who just picked up their pitchforks and torches, please put them down! There’s a middle ground that can keep us both happy: hybrid solar systems.

You get all the benefits of an off-grid system (being able to store and use electricity so you can keep your energy bill as low as possible), without the drawbacks (running out of electricity because of a cloudy day or particularly high energy usage). I go into detail about hybrid systems here.

No, you didn’t hear me – I may live in the city, but I want to go completely off grid, and no amount of reason will dissuade me from my crusade to cut the electricity company umbilical cord, even if I have to spent hours in the dark waiting for the sun to come back up.

Well, I wish you the best of luck. It is a free country, and it's your money.