Here is the first of a few articles that we submitted to the Local Connector NW, the free classifieds in Burns Lake. Jean who manages it has been super supportive and accommodating to us at Burns Lake Solar!!
Here is the article...
Burns Lake has a solar company.
That’s right, cutting edge alternative energy, right here in Burns Lake! ;)
We are Burns Lake Solar and Jean at the Connector has given us the golden opportunity to have a corner for a few weeks. Figured we would start by briefly telling our story.
The summer of 2011 saw us (Jason and Pam) dragging our stuff and our 4 cats to 40 acres just south of Burns Lake. We were considering living Solar off-grid, liking the idea of quiet, clean power, without a monthly bill that was sure to go up. BC Hydro made our decision easy with their outrageous quote to bring in power to our place.
So our off-grid adventure began.
As we didn’t know much about solar yet, we bought a plug-and-play system from a company in the South. 4 years later our “minimum 7 years” battery bank packed it in. Turns out the company didn’t know so much, sold us the wrong type of battery for daily use. $10,500 touch to replace those. Since then Jason has done scads of research, rewired most of the system, increased our solar input (more panels), switched charge controllers, and we have a system that works great.
Burns Lake Solar was born in 2022 out of a desire to spare others the challenges we’ve had getting to the point we are at. “Solar that Works” is our motto, as that is what we want to do, set people up with systems that are going to work well for their particular needs.
Are you wondering what it looks like to live off-grid? Do we have to turn off lights religiously? Only vacuum when the sun shines? Not run the washer and dryer at the same time?!Nope, none of this. While we are more conscious of our power usage than perhaps the average bear, we don’t live a deprived existence in the dark. Our home includes things like a fridge, stove, 2 freezers, washer and dryer, Starlink, shop with full realm of tools and compressor... not to mention 3 kids, dogs, chickens, and turkeys.
So now you know a bit about us and where we come from. !In the next few weeks we will chat about some of the things to think about when considering solar, look at the basics of how a solar power system works, discuss benefits of solar power, crunch some numbers, and dive briefly into some of the components (batteries, solar panels, charge controllers, inverters).
Come along for the ride, and check out our ad in here if you are looking for more information.
Let the adventure begin.
Pam and Jason
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