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City man takes home office off the grid

By: Lindsey Wiebe

Posted: 02/2/2009 12:33 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Some people buy a pack of recycled printer paper to green their office and call it a day. Mike Winiarz bought a solar power set-up and took his home office off the grid.

Using a heavy-duty battery and some well-placed solar panels, Winiarz can run his computer, router, desk lamp and other office gadgets in his Transcona home for hours without needing Manitoba’s power supply.

"I figured, in my little way, what can I do to get off the grid?" he said.

It’s a relatively simple system, consisting of four large solar panels Winiarz bought at Canadian Tire store and a power box with a built in power inverter and lead-acid battery. Connect the solar panels to the battery using a voltage regulator, and plug any electronic gadget right into the battery.

The internal inverter makes sure power flows at 120 volts, safe for household use.

Winiarz hasn’t installed his new panels on the roof yet, but for now he can draw some power from another panel already set up outdoors for an earlier experiment. In summer, he expects the longer days will mean continuous power for as long as he needs it.

"One day I’ll have my whole roof covered in (solar panels), and then I can take the whole house off the grid," he said.

Winiarz said he’s always dabbled in electronics, but credits his interest in solar energy to a little wind-up radio he used on the job at the Canadian National Railway Co., where he worked prior to going on disability leave.

He liked the portability, and later gutted an old 1980 stereo and converted it to solar power. The clunky boom box now gets its energy from a battery and two solar panels, and Winiarz said it’s a great accessory for enjoying a summer beer in the backyard. For his next project, Winiarz picked up a $15 briefcase at Value Village and turned it into a portable solar power supply. On sunny summer days, the souped-up Samsonite briefcase can produce enough power to charge a laptop computer indefinitely.

Solar projects are uncommon in Manitoba, aside from solar blankets on some swimming pools or the solar garden lights that dot city lawns.

That’s because the province’s short daylight hours and high energy demands in winter make solar energy a less efficient option than cheap hydro, said Climate Change Connection project manager Curt Hull.

Winiarz said he didn’t go to solar for the money, and jokes his motivation was more anti-authoritarian. He said he likes the idea of producing his own power, and still hopes to save $200 to $300 a year with his office arrangement.

"Quite frankly, I think that’s the kind of thinking we need more of," said Hull.

lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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