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this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
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This is a false framing of the actual dynamic at play. The problem is not the unmonetizability of it. This IS an issue to certain capitalist forces but the much more serious problem in the eyes of the capitalist state is that solar is decentralized. Centralized power production relies on infrastucture controlled by the capitalist. Even a personal home generator needs fuel to function. Which must be bought from those who control oil supplies. Solar once bought is entirely decoupled from their control. You can have solar panels and they cannot cut you power off anymore. It is an issue of power. Not the electric kind but the political kind. Controlling energy gives a person significant power of a society. Part of this is the ability to monetize that control but it is also simply a mechanism for control. The proletariet is seen as a threat by the capitalist and so any technology or policy that would remove direct control over the lives of proles is a threat. If they cannot cut off our power it removes a way for them to stop us from rebelling against them. Food and water supplies are also centrally controlled for this region. In many regions it would be cheaper and make more sense to grow much of our own food locally and have small well or rain catchment water systems. These are not used as they would destroy central control over the proles means to live. Making the prole a threat that cannot easily be neutralized. "Off-grid" living will always be something they attempt to discourage and make possible only for the wealthy. As to live truly off grid would mean to break free from the majority of the control mechanisms that are used to keep you subservient.
Living off grid also makes you utterly powerless to change anything, unlike the proletariat.
This is nonsense. Off grid literally means not reliant on the power grid. How does that make you powerless to change anything? I'm not talking about hiding in the forest. I'm talking about not being reliant on infrastucture that is controlled by the forces of capital for your basic survival needs.
My understanding of what off-grid means is different to yours, and has a lot of other baggage like living in the woods in a homestead without a job.
Apologies for not making that clear. I agree that giving the capitalist class fewer opportunities to fuck you over if you become a thorn in their side is good.
Well people doing that are certainly off-grid as well. You likely heard it in reference to that and assumed it only referred to their specific situation. Like when someone says "my off grid homestead" They are saying "My homestead that is not reliant on the grid (public utility services for power/water/etc)."
The homestead is the part that means they live out in some rural area and grow all their own food.
Even for them I dont think it would be right to say they have no ability to change things though. In a revolution places like that become safehouses or food suppliers. They are also actively choosing not to participate in consumerism which is a great way to go against the capitalist class. It is true though that many of these people are the right leaning libertarian types. Yet the infrastructure they build can be seized and utilized by the revolution in a time of need, and the skills they are developing for self sufficient living, should they ever become adequately agitated, would be quite useful to a revolutionary movement.
But regardless the off grid part is just an adjective that means not reliant on public utilities. It can apply to all sorts of things. For example a solar powered Ham Radio setup could be described as "off-grid radio communications"
Having solar panels does not mean “they” can’t cut your power off and ruin your life.
The sun doesn’t shine 24/7, and the amount of batteries you’d need to be able to be completely off grid is prohibitively expensive.
“They” still have you by the balls.
I grew up on solar, my parents house has been solar only for 35 years now. It depends on where you live and your energy usage. If you want to heat your home in Alaska during the winter with electric heat from batteries, you are in for a bad time. Same with trying to cool a poorly insulated house in Arizona.
Solar equipment was much more expensive at the time my parents switched to it than today, but they still came out way ahead. Still have the original panels up, I forgot what % less they are producing now but they are still kicking. Added a few more over the years, which really helps in the winter. Right now with utility rates skyrocketing they are especially happy not to be caught up in it. Battery replacement factored in of course.
I'm not saying solar only is for everyone, but it has been great for us. Takes awareness of your battery level, the weather, more money upfront, and a decent location.
This is a good argument for utilities and natural monopolies to all be state owned and operated.
It’s a social good to use solar and if the market is not able to operate in a way that enables a social good, then clearly markets are the wrong choice for economic management of the power grid.
I agree wholeheartedly, basic utilities should all be publicly owned.
full stop here. For everything.
Which is it? Is it that it doesn't work or that you need batteries to make it work which is expensive? You know... the thing I literally mentioned in my comment that it is purposefully kept expensive to prevent proles from doing it en masse? Because it can't be both.
I will answer for you. It is 100% possible to live entirely off solar you own as many people do it day to day and have no grid connection at all. It doesn't even take that much solar if you don't waste a shit ton of power like most people in the west do.
I also do not get your issue with me using ""they"" when I quite literally name the they I am talking about early in the comment. Should I continue to write out "the capitalist state" everytime to make it more clear for you?
Also your entire comment is operating off of a massive assumption that the goal is 24/7 luxurious power like you are used to in the west. Electricity is not a "yes" or "no" question. You can have some, a lot, an abundance, none, etc. You can get a lot done on very limited power. I have 500W of solar panels and a small portable power station along with various rechargable devices. When the grid goes down I have, a DC cooler I can use to keep food from going rancid, a rice cooker I can use, a handheld radio I can use, my computer/phone, and I can keep my home dimly lit indefinitely. Which is much better than pitch black darkness. Can I slow cook a roast or turn on a gaming PC with a big beefy GPU? Can I power my AC? No. That doesn't make what I can do any less valuable.
In a revolution any decoupling from centrally controlled infrastucture is a force multiplier.
So anyway... no. They don't have me by the balls. I can survive just fine with the power grid cut off. Speak for yourself.
No, you can't just live off solar - you need batteries, and a LOT of them. I have 42kWh of batteries to go with my solar, and that would last me a day and a half off grid, max, unless my solar was absolutely cranking every day. At the moment in Winter I'd have to triple my solar panels to be able to go off grid even if the sun shined every single day and they worked at their maximum efficiency, which is not how the weather works.
It means that they have you by the balls though. It means that you're not even remotely close to being off grid. Living like a homeless person by candlelight every night isn't what people mean when they say they want to go off grid.
I don't want to just "survive", and I'm not alone in that.
mod log checks out 42 kWh is absolutely fucking insane you could power a village off that lmao bye enjoy the ban. Not all of us are dainty little petit bourgeoise who cant survive without a carbon footprint 500x the size of the average global south residents.