Solar Power At The Cottage

I here from a lot of people about how expensive their hydro bills are at the cottage, especially since they don't use a lot of hydro most of the year but they still get billed for it. Add in the fact that a lot of cottagers lose power at the cottage more then they like and for longer periods of time then the rest of the province.

Well there is an option, you can go off the grid with solar. Solar panels have never been cheaper then they are right now. You can easily take your cottage off the grid and never receive another hydro bill again.

The cost associated with going off the grid has about a 7 to 10 year pay back depending on the size and electrical load of your cottage.

The biggest cost associated to going off the grid is not really the actual solar panels, its the batteries you require to store and run the electrical in the house.

There are several ways to mitigate that problem, you can use propane for your heating and cooking and you can change all your lights to LED. You can actually switch all the appliances in the kitchen to propane if you require to save more electrical load.

One thing that comes with off the grid is that you need to think about everything you do in a day that uses electricity. You want to be able to enjoy the cottage but you don't want to run out of electricity half way through the day.

A lot of people that go off the grid at their camps and cottages install backup generator that runs off propane or gas. The reason for this is that if something was to go wrong with your battery bank or if you ended up with a lot more people at your cottage then you had stored electricity then you can use it to power up the home and not be without electricity.

There are specialists that design these systems, so that it will work the way its suppose to and you have the maximum battery capacity. If you are thinking about going off the grid and you need help email me and we'll see if I can help.

Greatlakescustomhomes@gmail.com

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.