We live while off grid utilizing mainly solar power. For us, it works. But we’re not under any illusion that it’s cleaner. Manufacturing is a dirty business. Manufacturing of anything. Panels fail, especially cheaply made and the small 15W. Today the life span is 25 years. It’s not long enough. They need to be plug and play into set frames with a life span of at least 50 years. Storage also creates a huge issue. The industry is moving away from lead acid batteries, finally. Even the communications 4G solar arrays were using a gel battery, which contains lead and acid. The lifespan is maximum 10 years if properly used. We didn’t choose off grid as a way to stick it to the man. We chose it because it would have cost more than half our annual salaries to run power to our homesite. To date we’ve averaged less than $1000/yr in equipment.