Solar in the Woods: Artist’s Studio Goes ACPV
Overview
Project: Shisker Home
Location: Hamilton, MT
Installer: Oasis Montana/JKL Electric
Date Commissioned: November 2013
System Size: 12 modules
Module Manufacturer: BenQ
Array Capacity: 2.7kW
Mick Shisker’s art studio, located in the Bitterroot Mountains of southwestern Montana, proves that installing PV deep in the woods isn’t as illogical as it may seem.
Recently retired, Mick became interested in installing solar panels on his studio for economic and environmental reasons. He wanted to offset some of the carbon from fossil fuels while minimizing his electricity bill.
“I liked the idea of ‘buying’ my power in advance,” said Mick, who felt that leaving his money in a low-interest bearing bank account wasn’t the wisest investment. “I could virtually have free power in just over six years.”
There was another reason that made solar appealing. A trained boilermaker turned artist, Mick wanted the freedom to consume electricity for recreational welding purposes without incurring higher costs. Mick spends much of his free time working with metal, wood, timber, and power tools to fuel his art and creativity in a studio he built himself beneath three large shipping containers. The studio houses the equipment he has gathered over the years, and also serves as Mick’s personal workspace.
The studio’s rural mountainside location surrounded by mature 150- to 200-year-old trees would seem to be a less than ideal spot for solar. But when Larry Keogh of Oasis Montana presented the option of shade-tolerant AC solar modules, the site’s challenges vanished.
“I am not one to harvest mature trees just to accommodate solar PV systems,” Larry notes. “Since shading is less of an issue with AC modules, we were able to design a system requiring very few trees to be removed and this is where the use of AC solar modules came into play…”
Given that this was the first AC module installation for Oasis and its installation partner, JKL Electric, they were a bit unsure of what they would encounter.
“On paper, it sounded ridiculously simple – select a site, mount the array, connect the modules with the supplied cables, use appropriate disconnects, install a production meter, connect to the subpanel, and flip the switch,” said Larry. “In real life, it was essentially that simple!”
Since the structural integrity of the studio was unknown, the team opted to install a pole-mounted system with 12 BenQ modules powered by SolarBridge integrated microinverters. Mick’s 2.7kW system produces 12 amps during “Good Sun Hours”, enough to partially offset his welder’s power consumption.
Mick is now ready to enter into his retirement without being saddled with extra costs of power consumption for his welding hobby. He can fire up his studio equipment and create art and functional objects using power harvested from an energy source 93 million miles away.