Jobs
Off-grid power systems
We start from the loads: well pump, freezer, shop tools, lights, and whatever heats the place.
A place with no utility line makes its own power, stores it, and has to get through a gray week in January. The system starts with a list of what you want to run and for how long, not with a panel count.
We draw it on one sheet, order the parts from that list, wire it and stay for the inspection.
When you need it
Signs this is the job
The nearest pole is a long way off
A line extension can cost more than a small system, and a quote from the utility settles it.
You are building where the road ends
Cabins, hunting camps and homesteads on land the utility does not serve.
The outages are longer than your patience
A battery and a back-up source turn a week without power into an inconvenience.
You want to know what the system can run
We write the loads down with their hours, so you see what the battery carries in January.
You have panels and no plan
We can draw what is there, find what is missing and tell you what an inspector will ask for.
A winter is coming
Roads decide the calendar. Most sites can be reached from late spring to fall.
The visit
From first visit to the final
- 01
Step 1: Site visit
We walk the land, see where the sun reaches in winter, and look at the road.
- 02
Step 2: Loads and drawing
A load worksheet and the one-line diagram, before any parts are bought.
- 03
Step 3: Permit
We apply for the permit with your county or the state, and tell you what they want to see.
- 04
Step 4: Rough-in and the sources
Cable, the panel, the battery and the inverter, with inspection stops in between.
- 05
Step 5: The final
We are there for the inspection, and leave you the drawing and a labeled panel.
How pricing works for this job
What decides the price
What moves the number on an off-grid system, in order of weight.
The size of the battery bank
The distance from the array to the house
How many loads need to run at once
Road access for the parts and for us
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The estimate is written and names what it covers: labor, wire, boxes, the panel and disconnects. It also names what it leaves out.
Left out unless the estimate says otherwise: trenching, drywall repair, painting
Panels, batteries and inverters are listed by line, whether we buy them or you do
Permit fees are passed through at cost, on their own line
What happens at the visit
A site visit is how we see the land, the framing and the road. We walk the route the wire will take and look at where the sun reaches in winter.
The visit has a fee, stated before we drive out, because the drive can be long
If you hire us, the visit fee comes off the work
We do not price a whole-house system on the spot; the drawing comes first
What the design fee covers
For a whole-house or off-grid system we draw the one-line diagram and a load worksheet first. That drawing is the design fee.
One sheet: sources, switches, breakers and loads, with wire sizes
You keep the drawing, and your inspector gets a copy
The fee is credited to the work if you hire us to build it
Questions about this job
How big a system do I need?
It depends on what you want to run and for how long. We write a load worksheet at the site visit and size the system from it.
Can I add to it later?
Usually, if we plan for it. We leave room in the panel and on the drawing for a second array or a back-up source.
Do I need a back-up source?
In Montana winters, most owners want one. A back-up can be a generator on an inlet, or a second source we wire in. We say what we would do at your site.
Tell us about the site
Where it is, how you get there, what is built so far.