About us.
Why we started Solar Devices LLC.
While building our home in the hills of Vermont, we were faced with a decision. The utility company wanted a unreasonable amount of money to connect the house to the grid, which was 750ft away. For the same amount of money we could invest in a 3kW off-grid solar system with a large battery bank! With a background in electrical engineering and a DIY attitude I thought it made sense. I also thought I had a clear understanding of what was involved in living off-grid from what the research showed. I was wrong.
The confusion wasn’t because the online information was wrong, it was more about the information being incomplete. After a few years it became obvious what the real issues with living off-grid were. Following this was an even longer period discovering how to find an economical solution to these issues. The only proven solutions involved a larger investment. For us spending more to live off-grid wasn’t an option, it seemed to defeat the purpose of going off-grid.
How we operate
As a small business competing in a global marketplace it was obvious we had to leverage the technology that is already proven and available to us. We couldn’t afford to reinvent the wheel or rely on a large price markup on our product to cover development costs.
As tempting as it is to add the bells and whistle; wireless, touchscreens, data logging, AI, etc, we remained focused on a quality product. Simple to build, to operate and to maintain while keeping the total cost down.
How do we know we have a successful product? Because we are using it everyday and we know it works.
Where we operate
Vermont ranks 48th out of 50 for amount of sunlight per year in the United States. The only states with less sunlight are the coastal states of Maine and Washington. If our products work for a family of five living off-grid in Vermont, there is a good chance they will work for you.