He’s seen the future, and it looks like East Amwell

Mike Strizki is tired of waiting. The 49-year-old engineer hopes to help usher in the high-tech future of renewable energy from his 12-acre property in the Sourland Mountains by having the nation’s first solar/hydrogen-powered home. All that stands between Strizki and his goal, however, is a building permit.

Strizki’s solar/hydrogen system works, at least in theory, like this: On sunny days, solar panels on the roof of Strizki’s garage would generate more than enough electricity to power his home. Instead of sending the excess energy back into the main power grid, Strizki wants to send it to a $75,000 device called an electrolyzer. The device holds water that would then be broken down into its elements — oxygen and hydrogen. The pure oxygen would get blown off into the atmosphere, while the hydrogen would be stored at a low pressure in 10 1,000-gallon propane tanks on his property. The filled tanks would hold enough hydrogen to power a hydrogen fuel cell for 31

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