While politicians across the U.S. talk about the importance of renewable energy, Huntsville resident Tyler Truitt is doing something about it.

In January, the 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran planted a row of gleaming solar panels in his front yard, hauled in a 550-gallon plastic tank to catch rainwater and installed a composting toilet in the single-wide trailer that he shares with girlfriend Soraya Hamar.

It's as close to an off-the-grid lifestyle as you can come while still living in the middle of Huntsville (the trailer sits on two wooded acres at the end of Hood Road, not far from Brahan Spring Park Natatorium).

Truitt said he and Hamar should be applauded for treading lightly on the environment, and attempting to live frugally. A Redstone Arsenal employee, he is considering returning to the University of Alabama in Huntsville to complete a physics degree that he started working on before joining the Marines in 2008.

"We're not bothering anyone," Truitt told AL.com. "I just wanted to have something that would be debt-free, so that if I chose to go to school full-time I wouldn't have to worry about any bills."

Condemned

Instead of being celebrated as a clean-energy trailblazer, Truitt is being taken to court by the city.

He was cited in late March for violating a Huntsville zoning rule that prohibits trailers outside of mobile home parks. Then on May 12, the Community Development Department condemned the trailer as unsafe because the electrical, plumbing and heating and systems do not meet city building codes. City officials said Truitt also never applied for the necessary permits.

Truitt and Hamar were ordered to leave and given until June 1 to bring the trailer up to code.

But the couple has not left the trailer -- and does not intend to. Truitt said he considers staying put an act of "civil disobedience" while he fights the city's claims.

"Sometimes you have to take a stand for what you think is right," he said.

The city's position

Kelly Schrimsher, communications director for Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, said the city worked with Truitt for nine months and ultimately issued the two citations when he showed "no willingness to comply with city codes or regulations."

"The purpose behind these requirements is public safety," Schrimsher told AL.com Monday afternoon. "This includes ensuring that occupants of a residential dwelling have safe, potable, running water and electricity, particularly in the wintertime. The city has posted the property as 'Unsafe' for this reason."

The lack of either a septic tank or sanitary sewer line in a home is a particular public health concern for the residents as well as their neighbors, she said.

Truitt appeared in Huntsville Municipal Court on the zoning violation charge in late May. He argued that the city's no-trailers-except-in-trailer-parks rule is unconstitutional because it discriminates against low-income families.

"They're taking a big option away from families that can't afford to build a fancy house," he said.

Presiding Municipal Court Judge Sonny Rodenhauser found Truitt guilty; he appealed the verdict to Madison County Circuit Court and has requested a jury trial.

His first court appearance on the building code violations is set for July 29, also in Rodenhauser's courtroom.

"I have looked and didn't see anything (in Huntsville's Code of Ordinances) which says I'm not allowed to use off-grid utilities," said Truitt. "They claim that it's not sufficient to use off-grid utilities because it's not a 'permanent' source of power.

"Until they can prove that the sun is not going to come up tomorrow and give me light, I would say their argument is foolish.

Not illegal to live 'off the grid'

Schrimsher said Huntsville residents are not required to purchase utilities from Huntsville Utilities, and it's not illegal to live "off the grid."

Truitt's troubles with the city stem from failing to comply with current building codes, she said.

"We encourage green environmental living, and we request interested citizens go through proper channels," said Schrimsher. "Our departments stand ready and willing to guide them through the appropriate permitting process."

She said several Huntsville residents already use solar power.

Huntsville Community Development Director Ken Benion said the building code violations in Truitt's case may not be a problem in rural Madison County. "But in the city, it just doesn't fly," he said.

Truitt said the solar panels and rainwater collection system are safe and meet his and Hamar's basic needs. The six window-sized solar panels generate enough electricity to power the TV, refrigerator, microwave oven, central heat pump and fans. The couple has a propane water heater and does most of their cooking on a propane grill.

"Would the city rather us be homeless than live in a house that they don't like?" said Truitt.

"At what point is someone going to stand up and say, 'This doesn't make any sense, this is wrong.'"

Updated at 8:27 p.m. with comments and additional information from Mayor Tommy Battle's communications director, Kelly Schrimsher.