Energy Independence

Solar Heating

Hot water and space heat from sun you're already paying nothing for.

Solar thermal collectors mounted on a homestead roof in afternoon light

Building a Drain-Back Solar Hot Water Loop for Freezing Climates

Drain-Back Solar Hot Water for Cold Climates: Full Build

Build a glycol-free drain-back solar hot water system that survives sub-zero winters. Slope requirements, reservoir sizing, controls and commissioning.

14 minAdvanced

Matched packages

Gear for this work

Ground-mounted solar array and charge controller in an off-grid power shed

Lights-On Guarantee

Renewable Energy

The Blackout-Proof Basement

4.9 · 63 reviews

Eight 415W panels, a 60A MPPT controller, 5 kWh of LiFePO4 storage and a 3 kW inverter — the exact stack running our workshop.

Keeps fridge, well, lights and internet running 48 hours off-grid
Cuts roughly $1,900 a year off your electric bill
Wires up in two weekends — no electrician required

“Sized it Friday, mounted panels Saturday, ran the house off it Sunday. Our January outage lasted 19 hours and we never noticed.”

Dana Whitfield · Boone, North Carolina

$4,890$5,290

Water-Flows Guarantee

Water

The Never-Dry Water Kit

4.9 · 41 reviews

Helical rotor DC pump, controller, safety rope and drop pipe sized for deep wells with no grid connection.

Pumps from a 150–330 ft well straight off sunlight
No generator, no fuel, no hauling jugs during an outage
Drops into an existing well casing in an afternoon

“Five days without power and the taps never stopped. The pump just runs whenever the sun is up and the tank stays full.”

Tom Ferrar · Bennington, Vermont

$2,140

Solar thermal collectors on a homestead roof in afternoon light

Bill-Drop Guarantee

Renewable Energy

The Free Hot Water Retrofit

4.7 · 18 reviews

Two evacuated tube collectors, an 80-gallon exchange tank and the drain-back controls for freezing climates.

Evacuated tube collector array
Differential controller and sensors
Pump station and expansion tank

“The sizing worksheet told me I needed half the array the installer quoted. I built it myself over two weekends and my last twelve bills total $214.”

Dana Whitfield · Boone, North Carolina

$3,260

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