What energy crisis?
Niklas and Louise Scott run their dishwasher daily, watch movies on a 72-inch screen and walk on heated floors. But soaring energy prices are no concern for them. In fact, they are not even connected to the grid.
After years of planning and experimenting with solar panels in their previous home, the Swedish couple decided to go all the way last year.
Niklas said: “When we told our friends about it, most of them thought we would fail miserably.”
The self-sufficient house stood ready in September last year, built with super insulation and rodent-repellent foam glass from recycled bottles.
A few weeks later, Sweden’s coldest winter for 50 years arrived.
Niklas said it was a perfect test and added, “We made it through and we didn’t even have the wind power station up.”
The money the couple saved from not connecting to the grid was invested in just over 400 square feet of rooftop solar panels. In the unlikely event of a total solar eclipse combined with a total lack of wind, a room full of batteries will keep everything running for two weeks.
Niklas said, “On a sunny summer day the house will produce 10 times more energy than it needs. I’m thinking of installing air conditioning this summer.”
Now he measures every watt that leaves or comes into the house and plans to harvest rainwater with a mini-powerplant that can charge a laptop during a downpour.
