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Rooftop solar. Battery storage. Community Solar Farm shares. Heat pumps. EV charging. Yes, this does sound like our illustration of the Electric Home. It also describes Jon Biehler and Karin Sadtler’s home in Arrowsic, Maine.
Before they started building, Solar Champions Jon and Karin planned to include solar hot water panels and solar photovoltaic panels on their house and garage. The garage went up in 2010, intentionally oriented south and positioned away from trees for good solar exposure.
A year later, Shelter Institute built a post and beam house with an open floorplan. The 1700 square foot house is very energy efficient, with good insulation and a heat recovery ventilation system. (For any building science readers, the walls have R-34 and the roof R-38 Structural Insulated Panels).
ReVision Energy designed an 18-panel rooftop solar system, which was installed on the garage in 2011.
“The panels have been producing energy ever since,” says Jon, “and that has made us really, really happy.” The same year, ReVision installed solar hot water panels on the roof of the main house. A masonry woodstove heats the house during the colder season (using roughly one cord of wood), supplemented by a propane-fueled boiler for domestic hot water and radiant heat in the bathrooms during the winter months.
“Now that there are more hot and humid days during the summer,” Karin explains, “there was a need to be able to cool the house.” In 2022 and 2023 two air source heat pumps were installed for efficient heating and cooling.
“We were impressed with the quality of work and the thoroughness that ReVision offered us from the start. We developed a really good relationship with the different teams,” Jon says with a smile. (ReVision employee-owners have consistently raved about homemade cookies and treats during the installation projects.)
Backup Battery Storage Proves Critical
In October of 2017, the house lost power for five days after a storm. “That was very romantic,” Karin says, “but we decided, maybe we need some backup. However, we didn’t want a standby generator that hums all day.”
Unlike generators, battery backup systems are noiseless and free of polluting fossil fuels. ReVision installed a set of Powerwalls for Jon and Karin, solving the problems associated with power outages.
“There have been multiple outage incidents”, says Jon. “It’s seamless backup. We don’t even know it’s happening.” To Karin, the solar panel and battery combination is the most impressive piece of renewable energy technology they’ve installed. “As long as the sun is out for a couple of hours every day, we could be totally off grid.”
More Solar Energy Needed
When they continued their transition away from fossil fuels with the purchase of an all-electric Chevy Bolt and EV charging station, Jon and Karin needed more solar energy to offset their monthly electric bill – so they bought a share of ReVision’s Streamside Community Solar Farm (CSF) in 2020.
With ReVision’s ownership model of community solar farms, it’s possible to own multiple shares and use them all to offset one utility bill. Many ReVision customers follow the same path as Karin and Jon, electrifying their homes and lives in steps, resulting in growing electric loads.
Once the second car was also changed to an EV, they purchased another share at our Sandy River CSF, effectively matching their renewable energy generation with their electric energy consumption.
Karin adds, “I now realize that we could have planned our house construction even more carefully, for example installed a 200-amp service from the start in anticipation of growing electric loads. Technologies have changed quickly, and it has been super helpful for us to continuously have ReVision at our side. For our house, there are still a couple of pieces missing before we consider it fully electrified.“
And in addition to reducing their monthly expenses, Karin and Jon are helping to make a difference in the fight against fossil fuels, both with their home and with their involvement in community action.
“In the past few years, I have been more involved with climate action through the Climate Resilience Committee in our town, participating in programs and climate conversations” Karin says. “Electrifying our home and reducing our emissions from transportation through EVs is an important piece in the big puzzle. However, collective action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally.”
Interested in owning a share of a Community Solar Farm? Fill out this form or send us an email: hello@revisionenergy.com