We Do Solar Differently
Independence. Resilience. No BS.
An off-grid solar power system not only generates free power. It also gives you the resiliency to ride out outages and natural disasters.
Plus, you don’t have to pay SoCal Edison tens of thousands to pull a cable and set up a box… and you still have to suffer rising electricity bills ($500+/mo in the summer!) and increasingly frequent, prolonged outages.
But where to begin? Solar is an opaque industry mostly because of the complexity of grid-tied installations. As handy and self-sufficient as we are, many are stumped by the numerous moving parts and the lack of accessible information.
If you use a solar installer who serves a suburban clientele, you get an overpriced cookie-cutter solution not optimized for a ranch. Why pay extra to drill holes on the roof if you can anchor solar panels on the ground with some good old Unistrut? And, who in the suburb runs a 240V well pump and needs a system to handle that load?
Custom Off-Grid Solar Solutions
We design off-grid solar solutions from the ground up based on each property’s terrain and the client’s unique usage patterns and requirements.
To ensure our clients get the capacity they require without paying for things they don’t use, we start with an in-depth understanding of the lay of the land, what they need to run, and how they use their appliances.
We take a collaborative approach to helping our clients right-size their equipment and optimize costs. We also design expandable solutions, allowing our clients to grow their systems to meet evolving needs.
We'll meet you where you are
Besides implementing off-grid solutions from the ground up, we design off-grid systems to supplement on-grid consumption to help our clients lower electricity bills and increase resiliency. We can also optimize or expand your off-grid installation to generate more power, reduce battery wear, improve safety, and/or accommodate specific use cases.
We do solar differently.
How can we help?
We love tackling big hairy off-grid solar challenges with innovative approaches! Here are a few typical scenarios we address:
A custom off-grid solar solution built from the ground up
Whether you need to power a house, cabin, tiny home, workshop, barn, trailer, motorhome, or all of the above — we can design a system to meet your requirements while leveraging your ranch's unique terrain and characteristics to do more with less.
Got big plans but not ready for the investment? We’ll design an expandable system to help you reap the benefits of solar immediately, spread out the cost, and be there when you’re ready for the next phase.
An off-grid solar solution to lower electricity bills and protect against outages
Our resiliency packages are the only game in town if you’re connected to the grid but want to lower your electricity bill and build resiliency against outages with off-grid solar. (Yes, we can make solar work for those monster 240V well pumps.)
We’ll help you identify the lowest-hanging fruit to lower your electricity bills and shorten the payback time. We’ll discuss your must-have needs to ensure the system can handle the load during prolonged outages. We can also design an expandable system to grow with you.
Optimization of an existing solar power system
You might have inherited a solar installation from the last property owner or had cousin Joey, who may not be the most safety-minded, hook up some solar panels. Or, you have grid-tied solar but get the short end of the stick in the net-metering arrangement…
We’ll help you identify opportunities to make your current system work harder, improve safety, and/or accommodate specific use cases. Our systematic approach tackles one performance bottleneck at a time instead of having you order thousands of dollars of equipment and hoping something will stick.
>> Enhance your off-grid solar system
>> Turn grid-tied into off-grid solar for true energy independence
A modern solar power system for RVs, toy haulers, and motorhomes
We power your adventures, too! We started our solar journey by slapping a few solar panels on a rental cargo van. Next thing we know, our converted bus/motorhome has 8 panels and 4 batteries running a full-sized fridge, a washing machine, a microwave, an oven, a water heater, two A/C units, Starlink, and 26 devices.
Like all our projects, we understand your needs and help you get the most out of your resources. Plus, we’re happy to share our 3 years of from-the-trenches cross-country insights!
A mobile solar power generator goes where you need work done
Give us a truck, trailer, or whatever with enough room on top and wheels at the bottom, and we’ll turn it into your mobile solar generator. Power your workshop while you’re home, roll it across the property to build your next project, or take the setup wherever you go.
We custom-build batteries with our proprietary technology, which allows us to adjust battery behaviors to meet the peak/surge power requirements of monster power tools and provide sustained output — giving you the best of both worlds to run anything you want.
Save costs without compromising performance
Almost half of the cost of a grid-tied solar installation has nothing to do with power generation. It’s mostly spent on paperwork, permits, and hooking up to the grid. There are many ways to reduce costs (by as much as 50% compared with an on-grid system) without cutting corners when we design and implement an off-grid system. Here’s how:
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Brand-new panels cost around $120 to $400 each, while refurbished ones can be as low as $40 to $50 each. We source ours from a trusted vendor who tests all their panels (retired from commercial solar fields with most of their capacity still intact) and guarantees power output.
Plus, in rural areas like Caliente, where land is abundant, we can add a few extra panels to compensate for the slightly lower output while adding resiliency to the system — and still come out ahead (by a lot!)
Why aren’t more people using refurbished panels? The answer is quite simple. These panels aren’t approved for grid-tied systems, i.e., most suburban installations. Since they have few suitable applications, the law of supply and demand makes them very affordable.
How about their real-world performance? We’ve been using them for over three years, and they’re performing better than expected. We’re happy with the outcomes and highly recommend this option to our clients.
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Solar system installation isn’t just about having some guy come to your house to turn a few screws. If we drill into your roof and walls, we must consider liability and spend an arm and a leg on insurance.
But we got one thing going for us here: Almost everyone living on a ranch is pretty handy. We involve the property owner in the implementation process to eliminate all the “cover our ass” shenanigans so we can pass the savings to you.
Yes, you’ve gotta drill a few holes, turn a few screws, and lift a few 2x4s along with us. But that’d easily save you a few thousand bucks. Worth it?
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Solar installation on a suburban lot is expensive because you must use costly, type-approved mounting systems to secure the panels to the roof. And you must take down the installation if you have to repair or replace your roof!
Why go through all the trouble if you can throw a bunch of panels on 10, 20, or 40 acres of land and anchor them with some good old Unistrut?
By securing solar panels on the ground with our assistance, you can eliminate the costs (and risks) of drilling holes in your roof and the expensive mounting systems required by such installation.
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We streamline system design by working with our clients closely throughout the design-build process. We take the time to understand your needs at the start of the project to save time and effort later on by minimizing back-and-forth’s and frustrations.
We’ll also discuss options with you to minimize unnecessary paperwork and help you make informed decisions (note: we don’t officially offer permitting advice.)
We do solar differently.
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