Finally, some good news. I checked a couple outlets and switches around the house tonight, and they all appear to have copper wiring and neutral wires in each box, which makes UPB a good choice. I think I'm going to buy a KPE-08 produced by Simply Automated. They have it on sale right now for $125 (http://www.simply-automated.com/pep_info_request.htm), and Automated Outlet has it for $175. If Martin at AO wants to drop the price, I'm more than happy to buy it from him, but if not, I guess I'll save the $50 and get it from SAI.

The other good news is that people on cocoontech have helped me clear up some other questions. See forums:
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=5362
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=5368

Since there are no PIR motion sensors specifically for UPB technology, I would be forced to get a different kind. But software technologies such as HAL and HomeSeer work with multiple protocols, so it could receive a Zwave motion detector signal, and send out a UPB lighting signal as appropriate.

Further good news is that my house has an existing alarm system, and it may be able to interface with software. At the very least, we can use the existing wiring and sensors... in fact, let me go check what is there...

The panel inside my house appears to be a DSC. There is a sticker on it that has the number AF-5577. The box in the garage looks like it says FBII, with an apparent model STAR XL 4600. It looks fairly old, but I'll put this info on cocoontech and see if they think it is salvagable.