Going Going Going Solar - well sorta...
I'm actually just cheap and am looking for ways to reduce my electric bill!
I started lightly researching the possibility of catching some of that sunshine power last summer... and angrily I researched alternatives to electric heat the very cold and long winters of 2006 and 2007...  and finally took the plunge on purchasing a 45watt solar power system.  Yup, you're right, that's not much wattage at all.  But guess what.  I can run my agriculture buildings on solar.   Grain shed switched out bulbs from 60w to 14w compact lightbulbs.  Garden shed switched out 60w bulbs to 14w compact lightbulbs.  Aviary switched out the eight 60watt bulbs to the 14w bulbs.  That is a savings of 460 watts per hour use (4 cents an hour!)! 
Speaking of saving, I spent $25.99 and purchased this dohickie called a "kill-a-watt".  It plugs into the wall and then you plug some appliances into it to determine how much power they use while actively being used and while just sitting there... aka "phantom load".  I managed to cut $14 off our May electric bill by turning off the computers (yes plural=3) at night and setting a timer on outside lights.  In June, I reduced the electric bill another $36!!!  I replaced the 75w and 100w flood lights outside with 34w bulbs and reset the timers for "summer" hours.  (UPDATE ON CFL FLOOD LIGHTS - THE BULBS WERE A SERIOUS DISAPPOINTMENT. THE BURNED OUT FAST AND TOOK FOREVER TO LIGHT UP. I WILL CONTINUE TO RESEARCH DIFFERENT BRANDS). Summer 2008 project will be Jeff's shop and the garage.  He loves to leave things plugged in and ON.  I am going to help out - hehehehe - by designing a new lighting system for the ceiling of the garage and shop.  I don't think it is sufficient (or efficient) for the various needs we have.  Also I need to replace the floodlights that are above my kennels as they are huge power suckers and when it is daylight I cannot tell that they are on.  I just need to remember to flip OFF the switch.  We need to use energy smarter.
Anyhow, things I am working on:
   1    Buy water heater blanket to help capture loss of heat.  Also keep researching the tankless water heater brands.  They are supposed to be 70% more efficient than your regular electric water heater as they heat "on demand" rather than keeping your whole tank hot all the time.
    2     Purchase another 270w of solar panels and upgrade the controller.  I also need another "bigger" invertor.  I will need four more deep cell batteries for storing "power". 
    3    Is wind power of any use to me?  Well based on the windy conditions we have in the Fall and Winter months I think I might be able to put more of Mother Nature to work. I'm going to look into that later this year. Looks like you need to have the system rise about 30' above the treelines. Some people say the noise is bothersome. I don't care for noise.
    4    7/26/08 update - main propane tank filled. Ouch. Over $400. But now we should be set until the first of the year and have "affordable" heat... Running the electric furnace costs about $1.15 per hour.  Running the propane fireplace and electric fan is less than $1 per week. Do the math.

So what's the moral of this story?  Right now storing energy costs money (7/26/08 especially since our solar controller/regulator just went ass-end up and needs to be replaced. I was looking at better models anyhow.) but reducing energy use is cheap and saves me money!  Using stored energy requires some basic math and a pencil with an eraser - 'cause you don't want to spend hours at the computer using a spreadsheet (wasting electricity) when you could be using scratch paper (the flip side of all that junk mail we receive) and a good ol' pencil and calculator - solar of course. <smile>

September'08 ALERT! -  We've greened up our electric bill 38% thanks to a few tricks... read about it on my blog page.

Running meter alert!

October'08
September'08    
August'08
July'08
June'08

Next update planned for the first week of November!