Yeah you can really educate each other, as well as being able to relate. For example,he guy I'm getting the vintage shoplights from even knows what one of those 70s Universal Therm-O-Matic ballasts is!
I also like talking to people about off-grid power systems...that can be interesting! I'd like to install some solar panels at my (off-grid) house since I have to run a gas generator to charge my batteries...it's still a savings as opposed to running a generator 24/7 (Although I'd NEVER do that; in the previous (also off-grid) place I lived in I shut it off and just didn't have power at night while sleeping, during the day when there's light coming through the windows, etc...(Well there was a 12v car battery running a small 400w inverter for an answering machine on the phone and one table lamp). My current house has a wind generator that worked for eight months before it crapped out...and it did make a difference but I was still kinda disappointed so solar is the way to go IMO since it's more constant and wind generators are rather noisy...WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRBBBBBBBBIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEE!