In 2007 Eric Youngren received an email inquiring about buying a complete off-grid solar electric system to power a woodworking shop being built on a former sugar plantation in St. Kitts.
At the time Eric was managing a local renewable energy (RE) contracting company, Rainshadow Solar, in Washington State. When he got the email he did not take it very seriously. He was busy with local installations and didn’t spend much time on chasing email leads for big projects on far off lands.
After a few months of occasional email dialog, however, he began to see that the prospect was serious. He had a real need for an off-grid PV system and he had the money to pay for it.
In the end, Eric realized this system on Saint Kitts was a perfect fit for his new business model of selling complete system packages for customers to install themselves with local electricians.
He put together a six figure quote for a 12kW PV array on a ground mount rack, a fully loaded Outback Power Systems Flexware 1000 inverter/charger power panel and a large sealed Absolyte industrial quality battery bank.
Important design considerations included the ability to dismantle the entire system in a matter of hours to protect it from hurricanes.
Eric built the SolarNexus that forms the heart of the system and then arranged to have all the other parts and gear shipped to Miami to be loaded onto a boat to the island. He delivered a complete and detailed installation manual that accompanied the manuals from the equipment manufacturers. Apart from a few email exchanges, the local crew in St. Kitts were able to complete the installation themselves.
Once the system was complete, the project lead, Philip, decided that he´d like Eric to come down to check their wiring to make sure they put it together correctly. The sales contract include on-site support if all travel expenses were covered. Eric checked the polarity at the inverter breakers and flipped the switches. Everything worked just as it should. He did a bit of simple programming and answered a few questions that Philip and Kukie the electrician had, and that was about it for actual solar electric work.
Installing this system confirmed that there is a demand for whole system integrated packages and that the power electronics gear now available makes it easy for local contractors and electricians to do the installations. People on the island were intrigued and excited about the potential for solar electricity and battery backup for their frequent and sometimes prolonged power failures.
