[音频]P5 When we first moved to the property, we did some 1_______ and stayed in our motor home. We were confronted with real challenges at the time. The power kept 2____ ____, the main water line to the house broke, the 3_______backed up into the front yard and the generator died.[音频]P6 But the 4_______just made us work harder. We slowly got things 5_______ and moved into the house after 38 days in the RV. The next challenge was to become familiar with your power system, and to learn the ins and outs of hauling your own water and 6_______ your own power.[音频]P7 Our off-the-grid system consists of eight solar panels (1,000 watts) that are 7_______ on a sun tracker rack. We also have a wind turbine that generates 3,000 watts in 24 mph winds. The energy generated by the wind and sun is stored in 16 6v golf cart batteries. We also have two 2,500-gallon above-ground water tanks and a 250-gallon propane tank. Every weekend, we haul two 275-gallon water tanks to the nearby town of Yucca and fill them with water, which we then pump into our big water tanks.[音频]P8 While living here for the past four months has been a big 8______, there are many benefits to living off the grid. I think one of the greatest is teaching my kids the importance of 9_________. They used to take water, power and gas for granted. The first week we were here, we used almost 1,000 gallons of water. With only a 5,000-gallon water tank, it didn’t take them long to understand that we had to use less water. We started taking quicker showers, doing only full loads of 10_______, turning off the water while brushing our teeth or shaving.[音频]P9 Over-consumption is even more clearly demonstrated by our electricity usage. We have a digital readout of how many volts of DC power we have stored in our batteries at any given time. If you turn on a light or the TV, the number goes down. In order to protect the batteries, the system is set up to shut the inverter off if the volts get too low. Then the power goes out. When we first moved in, we lost power almost daily. After this happens a few times, it becomes clear very quickly just how often you waste electricity. Everything from lights and ceiling fans to computers and radios were 11 ___ __ ___ ___ ____ ____ _____ ___. The cell phone chargers were 12 ____ ____ even when they weren’t charging anything. All of this uses unnecessary power. We aresteadily learning to be more diligent with our power usage.[音频]P10 In addition, we are also trying to make other changes. They include 13_____ the amount of trash we generate by recycling and 14_______, growing our own 15______ vegetables, and reusing and repurposing things that we would normally toss. We also want to produce our own eggs and goat’s milk in the near future.