Please mod parent up as interesting.

I went through a similar exercise for my house, but my goals were different. I want some things to keep chugging during a power outage or brownout. I wanted some lights (not all of them) to keep working during a power outage. I didn't seek to totally power the house, but to independently power (and self-contain) a few subsystems to eliminate wires and some panel circuits. (low-power IT gear, outdoor LED floodlights, air-exchange vents, attic vents) I also didn't seek to sell power back or store much of a reserve. Apparently, this is an unusual approach.

Recalling that rescue workers dealing with Prius might not know if a vehicle is de-energized, one of the thoughts that went through my mind is that an electrician or fireman might think that by cutting off power at the breaker, they can assume the entire house and all subsystems are de-energized. I wonder if their procedures involve checking for alternate sources of power such as checking for solar panels and uninterruptible power supplies. A Prius or Tesla is a distinct shape that can serve as a warning. My house isn't distinctive. Fortunately, a power outage happened and I had to run around the house silencing UPS alarms. Problem solved.

Yep. Re-purposing is potentially way more efficient than recycling. There's no AC power running to my tool shed. Yet, flick a standard light switch just inside the door and LED lights come on. I recycle less-efficient "worn" solar panels and "worn" laptop batteries by re-purposing them to less demanding tasks.

I'm far from a hippie or greenie. I just love to tear things apart, tinker, learn and redesign with items that would likely have been trashed.

No elevators at most retail stores. A few stores and at corporate offices.

Please mod parent up.

Mod parent up...please. This is the most relevant post I've read today! It's not so much insightful as it is at reversing the lack of insight.

Thank you. It's like asking what language should diplomats use to negotiate a peace. Obviously, the most productive language is the one in which people are extremely competent and comfortable using...until they need to describe the the 27 types of snow, in which case they can switch from a European language to an Eskimo language to better express the concept. I assert a language's strengths and weaknesses for an idealized problem are trivial...compared to the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals using it.

I was appalled at the ineffectiveness of some "green" cars at things that matter to me, once I started independent research, ownership and maintenance calculations with simple T.C.O. ratios, like miles/dollar, range/charge-time-fuel, procedures/year, user/dealer procedures, cabin temp change/minute, cargo door size/cargo volume, etc. For my 150-mile round-trip Wash D.C. commute, I started out looking at hybrids, including the Volt, looked at Smart. I came to the same conclusion, get a conventional-engined Yaris. It's not "celebrity-green" but rather "simple green" and a beautifully functional, easy to maintain car for a consultant that occasionally needs to carry cargo and slip into tight downtown parking and tight traffic and avoid a lot of ownership/dealership hassles.

It's not the car...it's where you try to pick them up. First, check your local zoning laws to see what's allowed. The tack & feed store has plenty of hot chicks, usually in a small tray under a heat lamp, typically by the chicken feed.

Just like my high-beam indicator, my car comes equipped with a little light on my dash that indicates my oil is working.

Even better than dragging wire would be a long coil firmly attached to a copper spike, driven deeply into moist soil. Like my tin-foil hat, the car needs to be properly grounded.
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I'm not a crack-pot either. It's just simple physics. duh.

Why do they have to go redesigning everything every year?

1. Body: Many people think of their cars as fashion & values statements, not tools. Fashions & values change regularly. Fresh designs get more press and sell better. Even geeks choosing a Smart Car, Prius, a Jeep, a moped or an old carbureted Ford they manage to keep running are still making a fashion/values statement, but just aren't willing to admit it. A commuter car must "look" efficient. Retro cars must properly evoke the look of a previous era. A Prius must look sufficiently different, so that other people know you paid a premium to be green. A jeep must look outdoorsy and utilitarian.

2. Motors: Your competitor just came out with a 6-cylinder truck that has more power than the V-8 truck you're trying to sell. How should you respond?

3. Gizmos: Cars must meet an array of new regulations every year, ranging from environmental requirements, to black-box recording and tracking requirements to new safety requirements.

4. Corporate: Needs their fleet averages to get better MPG every year. Most can't achieve this with modifying either the body, engine, gizmos or a combination of all three.

I understand differently, but it might be from ignorance. Could you point me to something that educates me?

It's "strange" only if you grossly misapply the label of paranoid as a broad brush of dismissal. It's really pretty simple. I value personal convenience a bit more than personal privacy. I'm also concerned about a maintaining a sound currency and liberty, because I'm very aware of the irrational behavior of governments from my family history and world history. My family originates from northern Germany and from communist Asia. Those that have have lived sheltered lives can't begin imagine the personal suffering caused by these governments. In both societies it was common to hide gold. World history teaches me that financial desperation and then currency manipulation as a solution leads to strange politics. People get trampled by strange politics. It's happened in modern times and it western economies.

Here's one example: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/ess_germanhyperinflation.html

Agreed. (Most of the time.) In some of the remote places I travel, vendors don't have phone lines. They pull out mechanical device that they lay my card in to make a carbon copy impression and ask me to press hard when I sign the slip.

Why favor a restriction to just one option? Renting a car, I want to use plastic. Ordering online, I want to use pure electrons and math. When buying a hot dog and coke at my warehouse club, I want to use bits of paper and metal. When the federal reserve keeps purchasing "debt assets" I want to accumulate small amounts of precious metals and packaged commodities in proportion to the risk. Once the government decides to radically reallocate my precious metals, land and food in the name of the people, acts like I have no human rights, then I want courage, comrades, bullets, fuel, food, a defensible position and broadcasting media.