Gordon KUVE and Susie Orridge have had no electricity bills for eight years.The Arthur mountain couple live outside the grid, a lifestyle that is expected to become the "normal" for many Australian families in three years ".Living outside the grid means that Mr. Cuff and MS Aulich are completely their own.sufficient.About 30 minutes walk from their house, with seven solar panels on top of the shed that power not only their property, but also their neighbors and rental accommodation facilities, trig.The hydro system and nine other solar panels will also power another accommodation facility called containers, which Mr Cuff and Aulich MS are developing.Mr. Cuff said that when he and MS Aulich purchased the property about eight years ago, the water and electricity system had been developed."It has been here since 1986," he said ."."It's an old school at all points, but it works very efficiently.The system is located on a stream in the Gulf of Macquarie and works by taking waterA 250 tube.Then it fell by 200 and by 60.Water droplets create pressure in the water."In winter, when there is a lot of water, we produce about 24 ounces of water --About 250 watts per ounce, "said Mr Cuff.In the summer, he said, water and electricity were not enough to power all the houses, which is why they installed solar energy."By integrating solar energy, if we have dry sunny days, the solar energy is more efficient, and if we have wet weather, we have water and electricity," he said .".The couple must clean the water and electricity system every six weeks because the water inlet will be blocked by leaves."So in a sense, we have to work on that," Mr Cuff said .".But there won't be any other way for the couple.MS Orridge said they would be more careful to live on their own electricity supply."Even though we have excess energy, we don't use hair dryers and kettles because they are real energy zap," she said ."."But we have so much power that we have to run the heater all the time."We have to keep burning the electricity or we will let our system overheat."I'm waiting for the electric car to get cheaper because we can charge the electric car for free.Mr. Cuff and the property MS by Aulich is one of thousands of properties out of the grid across the country.California-Sydney-based technology firm Enphase Energy chief executive Paul Nahi said at a forum in Sydney earlier this month that, battery storage will become Australia in just three years because it can save money by combining it with rooftop solar panels.He said it would make no sense to build a house without insulation, and that the same situation would apply to electricity storage in Australia within a few years.\ "There is a view that there will be a company that will produce and distribute energy --A model of "hub and spoke-"Those days must have passed," Mr. Nahi said .".A spokesman for TasNetworks said the company welcomed the adoption of battery storage technology and said it provided opportunities for networks and customers to cooperate."TasNetworks is exploring the use of battery power during peak hours to minimize network upgrade costs," the spokesman said ."."In the future, customers can store electricity in their batteries and sell it to other customers through the grid.In some cases, TasNetworks enables customers to leave the network, the spokesman said.\ "In fact, TasNetworks has" removed "a customer from the grid and replaced the grid connection with a separate-"Only power is available," the spokesman said ."."In tazhou, because most of our power generation comes from renewable energy, water, electricity and wind, the" greenest "solution can be to keep the connection to the grid," the spokesman said.Tony Coolidge, director of the Tasmania State Real Estate Institute, said potential buyers would look at any alternative power supply from a positive perspective."People are becoming more aware of where the dollar is going," he said .".So people would want it if solar panels, water tanks and double glazing helped to reduce costs.Email: mdadson @ fairfaxmedia.com.