by Caleb Nickerson
Has there ever been a time in your life where you’ve wanted to get away from it all?
To live in modern society means to be dependent on a plethora of things so ubiquitous that to do without them is an act of rebellion. Where would you be without your car or your internet connection?
I’ve often thought about what it would be like to live off the grid, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how dependant I was on one thing in particular: electricity.
I use it for everything.
From keeping my apartment warm to making toaster strudels, it all depends on the movement of electrical charges. If our region lost power entirely, I’m convinced that within a matter of days we would be on the brink of chaos. Picture someone’s smart phone powering down unexpectedly and extrapolate their anger across time and multiply it by an entire society.
I shudder to even imagine it.
That’s why I was so intrigued when I met Thorne resident (and newly elected councillor), Robert Wills and learned about his life off the conventional power grid. In fact, the closest hydro poles are several kilometres away from the home he shares with Marilee DeLombard.
The pair rely on solar power, you see, and when the topic came up after speaking with Wills, I knew I had to see their place in person.
After losing my way in the back roads of Thorne, navigating steep hills in several inches of fresh snow with my mule of a Honda Civic, I managed to locate the property.
The house is tucked away from the road, sporting wooden siding as well as large windows and skylights. In the centre sits an old A-frame, which Wills tells me is the original house, with two additions sprouting off the sides like oddly angled limbs.
Outbuildings dot the yard, several sporting large solar panels of various sizes, most aimed to the south.
“Our ideal was to get out to the country and be self-sufficient,” Wills said, explaining the reason that he and his brother Richard moved to the region back in the 70s. “So we came to the end of the road and bought cheap farms … At that point, solar panels were unheard of.”
As I step inside the house, heat radiates off the woodstove and the bricks of the masonry heaters. We move to a window where Wills monitors a host of electronic equipment.
“This has been a leap-frogging or a stair step progression for years,” he said, explaining that solar technology has come a long way in the past couple decades.
“There’s one still on the roof, it must be about 20 years old now. At that time, I think I paid seven dollars a watt for that panel,” he said, gesturing towards the ceiling. “Last year I bought them for under a dollar a watt. This year from the same company, I can get them for 80 cents a watt.”
“They need to get to work on the batteries, because that’s the part that’s the lagging technology,” he added.
Wills setup features several different sets of 6 volt batteries, similar to the ones you would see in a golf cart, hooked up in series to create 12 volts direct current (DC).
This was around the point in the conversation where I realized that I should have paid more attention in my high school physics class (sorry Mrs. Payette).
Simply put, direct current is electricity that flows in a single direction, while alternating current (AC) changes direction periodically. Solar panels produce DC, while the electricity that comes from the grid is AC.
Wills explained that the panels are connected to the battery packs through three charge controllers, which prevent power from flowing back into the panels at night, as well as preventing the batteries from overcharging.
The lighting in the house is 12 volt DC, which is much easier on incandescent bulbs than the typical 120 volt AC outlet.
“In the 25 or 30 years that I’ve been living here, we still have every bulb that we ever had because 12 volts direct current doesn’t wear out the bulbs,” Wills said.
However, Wills shows me his inverter, which converts DC to AC and allows them to charge their laptops, phones and power their internet. Even so, the pair still need to rely on a gasoline generators for the heavy-duty jobs.
“We have a generator for pumping water or for running the laundry or big power tools … The satellite internet modem is a significant power drain,” he said. “People in a regular hydro household, don’t even think about those things but if you live in a battery-powered household, you don’t leave a light on when you’re not in the room.”
“On rainy days or on cloudy days, especially in the winter, I’ll have to occasionally top up the batteries,” he added.
In the kitchen, they have a propane powered fridge and stove, as well as a massive wood fired range, which Wills said he bought from Mennonites in southern Ontario. As we chat, DeLombard fires a couple logs on the coals to heat up the kettle.
Wills said he learned as he went, learning from his mistakes and picking up skills as he went along.
We go out to look at the panels he has on the outbuildings and the roof of the house. He explained that the steep angle ensures that he doesn’t have to remove snow as often in the winter months.
As I leave and head down the driveway, I’m not sure I have the technical aptitude or patience to rig up a system and live off the grid like Wills and DeLombard have done.
But there’s something about the independence they have from the rest of society that attracts me, especially in an age where the leaders of nuclear states exchange insults via Twitter.
Perhaps someday I could follow their lead, but for now, at least I know its possible.
Below Wills shows off some of his solar panels, rigged up to an outbuilding on his property. He had to clear cut a wide swath of land to ensure that they would
receive constant sunlight.
