8 year old, 8.4 kW, 24 panel solar, Mitsubishi "Hyper-Heat" cold climate heat pump with electric backup, Rheem Platinum heat pump water heater, Tesla wall connector and J-1772 EVSE.

Read more about the home here.

• Electric Vehicle(s) • Electric Vehicle Charging • Energy Monitoring • Solar PV - Rooftop 

My recently completed home is a 1,500 square foot home that uses passivehaus-style design concepts, including a thick building envelope, high-solar gain windows on the south-facing side, a concrete floor to act as thermal mass, and a 13 kW PV system. The house is all electric, with a heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump water heater, and heat pump clothes dryer. The stove/oven is induction/convection. The home has an ACH rate of 0.34, meaning it would take about 3 hours for the air inside to be replaced, or about 90% better than code. The south-facing windows allow for an internal greenhouse to grow food throughout the year. Plus, the toilet has a sink over it for a grey water use. The HERS score is -32.

• Solar PV • Heat Pump • Energy Efficient Appliances

Certifications: ENERGY STAR, HERS, WaterSense

I started the project by first purchasing 8 Longi 300W solar panels, installed on the garage’s roof, in 2019. I also had the breaker box modernized. The next year I expanded the PV surface to the entire garage roof, for a total of 24 Longi ~315W solar panels. The PV work was completed in 2021. All Energy Solar did the installation of the solar panels, plus the breaker box modernization. At the same time that I purchased the PVs I also purchased a used 2014 Model S Tesla car from GS Motors and got rid of my gasoline car (Honda Fit). I recently sold the Tesla and replaced it with a Ford 2023 Mach-E. The "Ray of Light" electrician did the Tesla home charger installation. I still use the same charger, adding an adapter (from NACS to CCS). During 2020-2022, I converted the gas stove, the gas dryer and the gas water heater, all to electricity (both the dryer and water heater are now heat pumps). I no longer use natural gas from mid-April to mid-October. I am adding 6 "Amaze" 250W ceramic heater in each rooms, in order to expand my electricity usage during early Fall and late Spring, hoping to avoid using natural gas during that period. I'm hoping to be able to use natural gas only during the very cold months of December, January and February. I understand that heat pumps are the most efficient method for heating, but I have used one of those low-power convection ceramic heaters for quite some time (in the bathroom) and I'm quite amazed by their efficiency and benefits. Plus, those convection ceramic heaters are absolutely silent, no fans!

I bought the 2023 Ford Mach-E this Spring of 2025 from GS Motors in Hopkins. The advantage of having a Ford electric car, compared to Tesla, is that you are gaining an expanded network of fast chargers across the USA and in Canada. I can still use the Tesla Supercharger network (using a Lectron CCS/NACS adapter) but it turns out that the hyper chargers offered by the company "Electrify America" can recharge the battery of the Mach-E, for a trip from Minneapolis to Duluth, in less than 20 minutes (while the Tesla used to require 50 minutes to 1 hour to do the same work on the Tesla Supercharger exclusive network). So far Electrify America is really a game changer in the field of fast charging stations, better than the Tesla Superchargers. In general, I find the Mach-E to be a very convenient car and I'm glad I moved away from Tesla Motor Inc and went with Ford. EvGO and Blink are other charging networks in the Midwest that are very convenient (such as in remote places like Siren, Wisconsin where charging may be an issue). Kwik Trip is also expanding in Wisconsin, offering 4 or 5 fast charging stations in remote areas of Wisconsin.

Car parts for the Mach-E are easily available at stores like O'Reilly or NAPA if something happens to break during any long trip. This problem had become a serious issue for me when I had a Tesla, with the philosophy of the Tesla Motor company. I was hoping to keep the 2014 Tesla for a much longer time, but it turns out that car parts replacement was becoming a real problem. I had to pay a full towing from Duluth to Minneapolis because the needed parts were available only at the Tesla car dealer; NAPA was not allowed to order the parts from Tesla, After that experience, I realized that Tesla was not for me... Of course having Elon Musk to become essentially a climate deniers didn't help, but the main reason I ditched Tesla is because of that company's philosophy: that all servicing must be done at Tesla car dealers only. That implied that I needed the full AAA towing service ready at all time, So... I purchased a 2023 Mach-E at GS-Motor in Hopkins and traded the Tesla (which ended up at auction); Pavel gives a great service! He took care of the old 2014 Tesla. So far the Mach-E has traveled to Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, South Dakota and Minnesota all over from Grand Portage to Faribault. Not one single issue so far, and supercharging is really easy. Having a CCS connector is more general than NACS. It's easier to have the CCS than to have the NACS, than the opposite (at least, in 2025).

The solar panels provide about 80% of the total energy I need for both the Mach-E and for my normal electricity utilization in the house (including window air conditioning in June-July-August), three people, my 2 kids and myself. I will either eventually add solar panels on the roof of the house to get to 100%, or add batteries. I'm hoping that Xcel Energy will keep going with net metering... Once Xcel changes its policy (copying Florida and California, or few other States), I'll get the batteries (with "net billing", you don't want to give back your surplus of electricity to the grid, you want to keep it to yourself and use it later in the night). Note that I estimated that the 2014 Tesla was about equivalent to a 35miles/gallon car (if you use exclusively superchargers), while the Mach-E is about 23 miles/gallon. So the Tesla car is really efficient. Mach-E is an SUV, so you loose on efficiency. That implies for me that I use more electricity from the grid, about 5%. So, adding PVs would compensate for that loss of car efficiency. During long distances, the Mach-E is still an SUV; so, less efficient than the Tesla. The inconvenience (and extra stress/worrying) of not having easily available car parts in remote areas outweigh that wasted energy, in my personal eperience. Especially because there is a solution: eventually adding 8 PVs. Having two teens now: it turns out that the SUV style is quite convenient with all the teens transportation needs. More space is nice! One extra nice side effect that is often forgotten, about having ONLY an electric car in the garage, is that you can reclaim the space; there are no toxic fumes anymore from the gasoline, the exhaust, or oil leaks. It's literally clean.

My yard includes a Minnesota native rain garden. I also have 2 rain barrels although this summer was really wet, I probably used only one.

• Electric Vehicles • Electric Vehicle Charging • Energy Efficiency Upgrades • Gardening/Xeriscaping • Heat Pump • Solar PV - Rooftop • Water Harvesting

56.52 kW rooftop solar and 2023 Chevrolet Bolt, Level 2 car charging port, heat pump water heater.

• System Size: 56.52 kW

• Panel Manufacturer: TenK

• Panel Model: 410

• Inverter Type: microinverter

• Install Year: 2015

• Installed By: All Energy Solar

• Notes: System was rehabbed by Guth Electric after a 2022 hailstorm.

10.12 kW Rooftop 22 panel Solar from 2024 and dual 12 panel sun trackers from 2006 charging two Testa EVs and selling back excess power to Xcel via net metering, in place since 2006.

Solar PV - Rooftop • Electric Vehicles • Electric Vehicles Charging • Solar PV - Ground Mount

We have a 27-panel solar array on our house and also have 2 Powerwalls. In addition, we have two electric vehicles and two electric vehicle chargers in our garage (Tesla Wall Connector and ChargePoint). You're welcome to come check out our very electrified home!

Solar PV - Rooftop

• System Size: 8.91 kW

• Install Year: 2008

• Installed by: All Energy Solar

We installed solar panels on our timber framed barn, a barn that we rebuilt. It’s a gambler style, the lower steep pitch has 30 250W panels and the upper shallow pitch roof has 15 250W panels. We have also just install a 24 410W array on the house.

The ground floor is were we keep the vehicles, one is our Toyota Prius Prime hybrid that we charge.

There is also 30 chickens on site.

• Electric Vehicles • Electric Vehicles Charging • Energy Efficiency Upgrades • Gardening/Xeriscaping • Recycled Building Materials • Solar PV - Rooftop

This house is an electric, net zero, energy efficient house.  However, there are many houses like this.

•Built with off-the shelf parts available to anyone. Over 95% of the work was done by small contractors that are available in every part of the world.

•The only unique item used are SIPs(Structural Insulated panels), but there are other ways of building the energy efficient walls/ceiling that could work close to the efficiency of SIPs.

•Other than the SIPs, the house could be built by most general contractors.

• Between 4/22/2024 and 10/20/2024 (6 months) the house has used minimal power (96 kWh) from the grid, yet still sent excess solar power (11,819 kWh) to the grid. Batteries and solar provided the house power for the summer.

•Minimal electronic controls.  Two 12K Sol-Ark solar control boxes and 5-TOD(time of day) thermostats are the only electronic control in the house.

•In Winter, almost all of  the power, over 95%, will be used at night.  Batteries and solar will be used during the day.  This is the first winter with the batteries functioning.  So far it is working as planned.

•“Grid supporting” house.  I take power from the grid when it has excess (winter nights) and put power to the grid when it's needed (summer afternoons).

Learn more about the house here.

• Electric Vehicle

• In garage EV charger.

• 18 kW roof solar system

• 15.2 kWh battery system

• Air sourced heat pump.

• Induction stove

• Heat pump water heater.

• Energy Star appliances

• One level Living

• Retirement/handicap friendly.

• 25 acers of Prairie grass and wild flowers.

• Examples of Wind erosion

• Examples of Water erosion due to poor farming practices.

• No custom software or hardware.

• Potential for 80+% of grid supplied power being controlled/determined by power company.

Results according to Xcel Energy bills:

• Very little power, 96kWh, used from Xcel Energy from 4/22/2024 until 10/20/2024. Batteries and solar provided almost all power for the house.

Installed Smart meter in January 2025. The results so far have been:

• 99.5% of the power from Xcel energy was delivered at night when Time of Day rates are the lowest (9pm to 9am). This includes heat in February and electric car charging.

• 67.9% (61-76%) of the solar power was delivered to Xcel “on PK Delivered by Customer”.

• Maximum ‘on PK demand” 4.2kW with one exception

• Maximum “off PK demand” 28.9kW.

This site has numerous applications of solar including solar array, solar furnace, passive solar winter greenhouse, passive solar garage, passive solar chicken coop. These applications are all part of a simple, sustainable living non-profit that also showcases a variety of construction methods (timber frame, cordwood, earthship), hiking trails, labyrinth in the woods, wood-fired barrel oven, gardens, deep winter greenhouse. Many classes and activities are offered through the year related to sustainability, simplicity, community building.

· Electric Vehicles · Electric Vehicle Charging Energy · Energy Efficient Upgrades · Composting · Gardening/Xeriscaping · Integrated Systems · Net Zero · Passive Solar · Solar PV Ground Mount · Solar Thermal · Deep Winter Solar Greenhouse · Recycled Building Materials · Water Harvesting

All electric home complete with Tesla solar roof, Tesla PowerWall backup battery, Arctic air to water heat pump utilized for both infloor heating and cooling, Zehnder ERV, Canadian Access windows and doors and two electric wall chargers. We got Tesla to allow us to put their solar shingles on our south facing home and garage roofs and have metal roofing on the north faces. We utilized old barn siding from my family farm for the garage and breezeway walls and for the ceiling of the east deck. All rainwater is diverted into a catch basin (rain garden) that can handle up to a 5 ” rainfall. A minimal lawn space is maintained for overflow parking and snow removal. All other space is being restored to pollinator prairies. We use wicking bed gardens to conserve water.

System Size: 32 kW

Passive Solar · Heat Pump(s) · Electric Vehicle(s) · Electric Vehicle Charging · Battery Storage · Energy Efficiency · Gardening/Xeriscaping · Recycled Building Materials · Sustainable Living · Water Harvesting · Energy Monitoring

Learn more about the home here.

A 17-Kw array, a super-insulated total gut rehab, and a geothermal heat source all come together to make this all-electric house net-positive — producing more electricity than it uses over the past four years of operation. These owners wanted to prove that an ordinary old house on an ordinary lot in a chilly city like Minneapolis could indeed be net-positive — producing 15,000 to 17,000 kWh, vs 11,000-14,000 consumed per year, over the past four years.

Electric Vehicles · Energy Efficient Upgrades · Geothermal · Heat Pumps · Net Zero · Solar PV Rooftop · Super-insulated Walls

For more info on the features of this sustainable home, click here.

We built a small bungalow replacing an old falling down farmhouse on 6 acres of pastureland. Our story is one of starting small and building in sustainability over time. When we first bought the property, it was teeming with nettles, burdock, and thistle, barb wire fencing and scrubby junk trees but it also had a beautiful old oak family and a winding creek. We adopted this neglected land, vowed to care for it, and try to live sustainably on it. We had a limited budget but solar was a must so we started with a 2.2 kw roof mount system that had room for expansion. To help with heating costs we also installed a wood stove. The stove could serve as heating and cooking backup in case the power goes out. Because it's a country home, we have well and septic. Our land is hilly and rocky and the aquifer is a long ways down. The well must pump from 500 feet and the septic is a modified mound system, also with a pump. That's where much of our electric expense comes from. Our solar system doesn't cover all our electric needs, but it offsets the cost of that pricey well and septic. Growing food has been a unique challenge. Our rocky limestone soil is very alkaline and water quickly runs down the steep hills before soaking in. But we've experimented and learned to grow a bounty of fruit and vegetables. I joke that when we moved here we needed to learn to garden with a pickaxe but instead we installed raised beds and created a dry streambed to capture rainwater, directing it to a swale and berm system for our orchard. We prune our fruit trees dramatically so we can have variety but still use everything we produce and don't have to climb ladders to tend them. To be more sustainable we strive to conserve and limit waste and accommodate as we age in place. What might interest some in our homestead is that it's not a big glamorous project, once and done, off grid, but a series of steps in that direction. With a small budget and a bit of creativity a lot can be accomplished.

System Size: 2.2 kw

Gardening/Xeriscaping · Solar PV - Rooftop · Passive Solar · Water Harvesting · Sustainable Living

These homeowners went solar because it’s a core component in the sustainable retirement home they wanted. In designing their home they had the following criteria:

Retirement home: Low maintenance, low utility costs, handicap accessible, and everything they’d need on the ground level.

Sustainability and resilience: Concerned about climate change, food security, and resource depletion - incorporate permaculture, eliminate fossil fuels as much as possible, and to grow or source as much food locally as possible.

Financial security: Like many Americans, these homeowners have not been able to save a great deal for retirement. Investing in assets like solar that fix a large portion of their energy costs for decades, in addition to reducing their energy needs through passive solar and energy efficiency, help to insure they can afford to live in their home regardless of external energy prices.

Family: These homeowners faced the challenge of having large families to entertain occasionally without having a big home, so they had to get creative.

Community: Being a part of a community was important to them.

Battery Storage · Composting · Electric Vehicles · Energy Efficient Upgrades · Heat Pumps · Passive Solar · Solar PV Rooftop · Chickens · Fruit Trees · Berry Bushes · Vegetable Garden · Canning Kitchen

This home has a 4 array, 42 panel with 42 micro-inverters 9 kW roof-installed solar system. Installation was done by All Energy Solar in the spring of 2016. Since installing the system, this family has had a greater awareness of overall energy consumption and have been making smarter choices when using and choosing to replace appliances. It has also encouraged them to create new habits around energy consumption and led them to broaden their involvement in the fight against climate change. Most importantly, it has decreased their reliance on fossil fuels!

Solar PV - Rooftop · Electric Vehicles

The presentation of plans culminated in construction of a home that has been certified as a Passive House Plus – only the second house in the U.S. to achieve this certification. Other design goals included full accessibility for aging in place, low environmental impact building materials, long life-cycle materials that require minimal maintenance, and low-impact landscaping that is welcoming to wildlife. Dave offers a photographic tour of the home’s features and construction details and talk about the comfort and performance of the home.

Learn more about the design process here.

Click here to view the video tour.

The School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley had solar panels installed on its roof in 2023. The school received grant funding through the Solar for Schools program to support the project.

Solar PV - Rooftop

Tim’s Tiny House is quite unlike any other house on the tour. It’s scale model home showcasing renewable energy and energy efficient features!

Energy Efficiency Upgrades · Heat Pumps · Integrated Systems · Net Zero · Passive Solar · Solar PV - Rooftop · Solar Thermal · Sun Tubes

This small family home boasts a 2.8 kW system, purchased in partnership with a co-op through Solar United Neighbors, saving them 30% on the install.

Solar PV - Rooftop