Living Off the Grid Story and photos by Andrew Theophilou Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be off-therails in order to live off-the-grid. Yet those who adopt this alternative lifestyle can sometimes face criticism or even derision. So, why do they do it? What are the challenges? And is it really worth all the bother? Living off-the-grid can mean a lot more than disconnecting from mains electricity and other utilities or reducing reliance on non-renewable energy sources such as gas or petrol. Many people do it to become more independent from the dictates of mainstream society, detaching themselves from existing infrastructures so that they can be more self-reliant individuals, as family units, or in small communities. For some, living off-the-grid also involves striving for greater independence from national education systems and conventional medicine, as well as the global economy and food production systems. They want to take responsibility for their own children’s education through home schooling. They want to look after their own bodies and minds through alternative treatments or therapies. They want to take control of their diet and limit its impact on the environment by growing their own food and becoming more self-sufficient. They want to become less reliant on an exploitative economic system by creating informal local economies. But you don’t need to share all of these aspirations to make living off-the-grid a prospect worth considering. You might just be planning to renovate or build a new home in a rural location. Living off-the-grid in such circumstances can be a practical interim solution until construction is complete. It may be that you are creating a second home that you only want to use for part of the year. Connecting to mains utilities in this case would just add to your long-term costs. Living off-the-grid, however, could help you avoid the additional burden. The necessary adaptations to your lifestyle may be palatable enough to make it worth your while. Environmental impact of living off-the-grid Despite what some people think, living off-the-grid is not inherently more eco-friendly—it really depends on a wide range of other factors. This is especially the case in Portugal, where the national grid is increasingly powered by renewable energy sources. In fact, Portugal has, on occasion, managed to run itself on 100% renewable energy without nuclear power stations, so you’d think 46 Portugal Living Magazine
A midsummer’s night off-the-grid that connecting to the grid would support this apparently green national movement. But things are never really that simple. Off-gridders themselves increasingly call into question the green credentials of the solar power they use. This is partly due to the need for lithium in solar batteries—just one of the many factors fuelling the boom in Portugal’s lithium mining industry. At the same time, big power companies feeding into the national grid enjoy economies of scale which arguably result in greater efficiency in the long run with less waste and a lower overall impact than domestic solar systems. Then again, they also take up vast areas of land for Portugal’s massive solar farms. Some of these require the felling of native trees, leading to the destruction of already diminishing wildlife habitats. So, whichever way you look at it, there is always room for debate. It is perhaps ironic, though, that huge solar farms plugged into the grid are now popping up right beside the hotspots for some of Portugal’s off-the-grid communities. Regardless of whether you are driven primarily by a desire to live a low-impact lifestyle, the environment will inevitably play a huge role in shaping your experience as an off-gridder. In a country such as Portugal, which has vastly contrasting climatic conditions within a relatively small geographical space, your experience can be very different depending on your precise location. During the colder months, coastal areas of the north are generally more overcast than the central inland regions which enjoy longer periods of clear blue sky. This can make a difference in the amount of equipment you need in order to provide a sufficient source of solar power. Although inland regions guarantee more sunshine throughout the summer, too, temperatures can often rise to well above 40ºC. Some domestic solar equipment may fail to function at such high temperatures, putting a spanner in
