solar power
my father-in-law is very proud of the solar panels on his roof. they are pretty cool. not exactly cost effective. even with the rebates and tax write offs. but whatever. one thing though makes them completely dumb. it's not your power. all the power from your panels goes to the electric company. you get credit for what you produce against what you consume. pretty sure you're not allowed to make a profit. otherwise, you're a power company. and subject to all the rules and regulations every other power company is subject to. the dumb thing though is when the power goes out, the power is out. you can't just flip a switch and power your own house with your own solar panels. which is just dumb. really dumb.