By JOHN E. WEARE
KAB
Alliance awaits a solar farm to diversify the community’s electric power resources though even when built and operational local residents will remain “on the grid.” What does it look like to unplug from a municipal utility? A cabin deep in the forest has occupied my mind’s eye. In reality, my first visit to a home “off the grid” came a few weeks ago among the snow-covered Sandhills.
Driving from Morrill County, Vicki Thompson pulls up in front of the Keep Alliance Beautiful Recycling Center door at least once a month or more in a red SUV. She is among a handful of patrons I have known since I was a kid. We chat for a few minutes while whisking sorted bags inside and returning a box suited to holding magazines. Not too far in the past I asked about the ranch and learned that Vicki and her husband Grover had completely retired as Frank and Mandy, their son and daughter-in-law, were running the operation. They were in the process of building a home on the ranch that would incorporate solar power and environmentally friendly/energy efficient technology while the next generation remained in a dwelling with a century of history.
The property already held a second house although the move would not have gained the couple much. Vicki noted this dwelling was located to the west on a trail road and it is “kind of dumb to move farther off the road when you're 80 years old.” They wanted a good view while still being available to spend time with their son’s family. Vicki and Grover also have an older daughter, Amanda. The site they selected is four miles north of their former home. Grover said they see Frank and Mandy’s oldest granddaughter, three-year-old Elsie, quite a bit. Her sister, Birdie, will be a year old in April.
Looking to the southwest out their living room window during the interview I also appreciated the view featuring rolling hills and a windmill. Though the builder would have incorporated the latest methods and technology this home was not originally slated to be off the grid. Vicki explained that it was going to cost $100,000 to get electricity from either direction so they chose the solar option. “We built the house with no electricity, it was the last thing,” she said.
In addition to no power lines the structure has no landline phone or cell service. They have Starlink internet service which allows them to run cell phones off of it. “The tricky part when we were setting up the solar service was calling the place and they sent the signal to start it,” Vicki recalled. “When you tell people you’re off the grid they don’t understand – we have nothing coming to us.”
I heard a rundown of how the 20-panel solar array operates then saw the equipment and control panels as they showed me around. The meter displays current usage, typically .46 Kw Grover said, as well as what the panels are generating and how much is available from the battery that receives a boost from the propane generator (which he’s tested at 20 below zero) when dipping below 40 percent. A separate solar panel charges the generator’s battery. In the attached garage, a feature lacking in the former location, there is the proverbial 10-foot (or so) pole Grover employs to swipe snow off the panels this time of year. “Weather dictates what you do,” he said. “(The system is) not as good in the winter – if the sun comes out around noon for 2-3 hours it takes a good charge.”
Like anyone’s house, certain appliances don’t get along well with others. Forget and turn something else on while the microwave is going and the breaker flips, Vicki said. Conversely they schedule the clothes dryer, which draws the most juice, for sunny days.
Beyond solar for electricity and propane to heat and cook, the new home itself (built on a slab) boasts energy-saving features: a two-inch layer of sprayed insulation, pellet wood stove and LED lighting. Also, drilling a new well was not necessary. “James Girard put a pump in the cylinder on demand off solar, it was an old windmill, still there but not hooked up. The pressure tank is the size of a (20#) propane bottle and we can pull the unit out (of the well if necessary),” Grover explained.
Specifications for the house (they moved in on Sept. 23, 2022) mirror a commitment to sound environmental practices and stewardship of the land as ranchers. Grover has served on the board of his Natural Resources District and its water task force. During the summer of 2022, Vicki and Grover, and their family, received the Nebraska Marine Daegen William-Tyeler Page Defending the Soil Memorial Award. The award honors the memory of Corporal Page who was among the 13 service members killed in the attack at the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan in 2021. Their criteria was for Grover caring for the land, and serving in the U.S. Army as a Green Beret.
Vicki said they took their children out with them since they were toddlers and they learned about intensive grazing practices as they grew up. Frank still operates that way and his sister (Amanda) likes to help out on the ranch when she comes home. “Both kids were raised doing every job on the ranch and tried to have fun learning and doing,” Vicki said.