Powering my Quest for Yurt Love

How much electricity do I need to meet my basic needs?

I've looked at a lot of different housing alternatives from nylon tent to camper, and now yurt.  Watching my daily power usage, and more interestingly how I live when the hydro goes off, I think I have a fair idea of what I need to be comfortable.

Assume that water and heat are taken care of by other means, my electrical usage is really quite small.  

Lighting:

Given my druthers I have very few lights.  

• Outside lighting: When I'm outside after sunset on the farm, I seldom use a flashlight.  The moon is tremendously bright most of the month, and when it's cloudy, the light reflecting from the city against the clouds is sufficient to do my chores.  It's only finite work (small hand generator flashlight) or hunting monsters (big meg light with batteries that last 6 to 10 months) that I really need outside light.  Though, I admit, I do like having an outside light hanging next to the front door to welcome me home after a midnight stroll.  
• Inside lighting: I very seldom have lights on in the house when I'm home alone.  I like the dark not just because it's easy on the eyes but it hides me from any fictional monsters that might lurk in my closet.  There are however a few tasks in the house that one needs illuminated.  
• Cooking: Any knife work needs good lighting, as well as cleaning up the dishes afterwards.  But the main cooking can be done in dim light as it's mostly taste, smell and texture.
• Crafting: About 50/50 dim and strong light, depending on the craft.  Spinning, wool prep, some weaving... they can all manage with low light, but sewing, fancy weaving, spinning novelty yarn, &c. all need strong light... then again, I'm usually to tired to do the fancy work at night, so basically it's a day task
• Reading and writing: This needs strong light, but it's another one of those tasks I do best during the day as my head clouds as the day progresses.
• Entertainment: 
• I watch TV because it is there, but if it wasn't...would I miss it?  I don't think so, not a lot anyway.  We have lived without cable before, in fact, the only reason we have it now is so the Ancient can watch Jeopardy.  Though I do like watching occasional videos.  When the electricity goes off for days on end, the only time I totally despair is when I miss Dr Who.  Everything else is Humdrum.  Assuming there will be a garden and livestock, I'll have plenty enough to do in a day without TV, and get more done without it snaring me with it's glow.
• the only other thing would be my e-reader.  This needs charging once every 3 to 4 weeks, and takes about 2 hours to charge AC.  I think this is necessary because so many books have soy and other chemicals I'm sensitive to in their ink/paper, whereas the plastic (most) ereaders are made from is fairly stable (it doesn't off gas).  This greatly expands what I can read.
• Music/Radio: This is the only true necessity for me.  Silence is painful and having music and/or radio is the only cure.  Though this may have improved since I last looked, I haven't seen a solar or wind up radio that lasts 12 hours of play time between charges.  So something with replaceable batteries, or rechargeable ones.
• Electronics: computer?  As much as I enjoy the internet, I also find it frustrating and distracting.  I'm of two minds as to whether I want it in my future home or not.  Sometimes it's wonderful because I can look up information that I need urgently, or order books from the library.  I love blogging, but I worry that it's just adding to the clutter overload of the interweb.  And wading through that clutter when I need to find some useful information is a major time sinkhole.  There are also games that distract me.  Other electronics include camera - which would be used less with less blogging, and 
• Communication: I'm an introvert in almost every meaning of the word.  I'm awkward with people and find I'm very insecure about interacting with others.  I can put on a show, pretending to be confident, but it's exhausting.  I could see myself content with very little human contact.  The problem is we need others.  Even in my hermit life, where I spend every day with my sheep, I still need others.  This may seem contradictory, but I love teaching skills to others.  My favourite thing I did this summer was to mentor a friend to start a vegetable garden - her very first garden.  Helped her turn the soil, showed her how to plant the seeds and from there, offered help when needed.  I've spent most of my life gathering skills like gardening, spinning, sewing, cooking, fermenting... all completely irrelevant in the modern world.  However, I wonder... in the future, these might be the very skills people need.  What if global transpiration breaks down and we rely entirely on local food supplies?  Every lawn will be dug and replaced with potatoes, beans, grains... Like they were in England during The Great War.  How many people can make a four foot by 5 yard bit of dirt produce 4 crops a year and feed 6 people all the veggies they need?  I can.  Maybe in the future, other people would like to too?
• So I guess I do need some form of communication with others.  A land line is simplest, but requires hook up to the grid.  Probably a basic cellphone like I have now - my phone makes phone calls and nothing else.  Costs a fair bit for someone who uses 4 minutes a month, but if it was my only phone line, it might be up to 10 min a month.  I've tried pay-as-you-go in the past and found it beyond my capacity to keep up with.
• Also, internet.  I feel weird not having any at all.  I can always travel to the local library and use the wi-fi, but that's a pain and people expect instant email response these days.  Maybe a basic wireless system that I can hook up to my laptop just for simple things like reading, emails, forums... that's about all I would want.  Something slow enough that I don't feel compelled to use it hourly.  

Laptop, phone, ereader, some lighting, radio, perhaps a fan in the summer, and... I can't think of anything else.  But there will always be something else that comes up.  I'm thinking that if I calculate the absolute maximum I think I'll ever need and double it... things should be golden.  

For those of you who craft, you may wonder why I'm not including the sewing machine.  The truth is, I don't get on well with electric ones.  All my sewing is either by hand crank or treadle, so why would I want to convert to electric?

And a clock... Well, I have a beautiful clock that winds up with a key.  It lasts about 8 days between winding.  No electricity needed there either.

How to power my yurt?  I want to be as independent and off grid as possible, so solar, wind, water... all these are possible ways of producing my own power.  A small wind generator may only produce a tiny trickle, but it adds up over time.  Water... well that depends on proximity to a stream or other flowing water, but can be quite powerful.  Solar would have to be my main source.  Which is convenient because I just happened across a system that would be perfect:  Goal Zero Yeti 150 Solar Generator Kit has both solar panels and battery/controler thing.  At the time of writing, it's $400 plus shipping, customs, duty, exchange rate...except, apparently there are shops nearby that sell this company's products, so a bit of research is needed.  Based on previous orders from the US, I'm assuming that shipping and customs will total $200, so a total estimate of $600 for a simple solar power system for my yurt.

If it was just me living in the yurt, that system would be ample.  However, with friends and/or family, we would need something greater.  

Not anywhere near ready to order a system yet, so I'll keep researching and if I find something that else that catches my fancy, I'll let you know.