The two founders of Granite Gear are big fans of renewable energy. Makes sense for a company that makes award-winning backpacks for wilderness adventurers and more. Both have used photovoltaics (PVs) to power their homes. But they live in northern Minnesota, near Twin Harbors, and despite the frigid winters (think Fargo) with short days, their installations have provided most of the power needed to keep their homes bright.

Jeff Knight, Granite Gear’s CEO, has an independent PV installation on his home, and co-founder Dan Cruikshank, installed PV on his last home—the new property owners still use the system he installed, though they built a new home.

Knight told CEA that “solar produced nearly all our power 8 months out of the year.” He first installed solar on his family’s home in 1991. At the time, their 56-acre property was 6 miles from the nearest phone or power line; it would have been prohibitively expensive to grid-tie the $20,000 property.

“I was already very intrigued with the idea of having an alternative energy system to power our home,” said Knight. So he built a 12-volt PV system with four 51-watt PV panels to meet his needs.

In 1996, with their son on the way, the Knight family installed a larger array with nine 75-watt panels on a tracker system. The array produces DC power at 144 volts, he said. The overall effect is that in the summer months, they usually don’t need to run the generator unless it’s been cloudy for more than 2 days.

“During the winter months, we do have to run a generator a few hours a day, but that is to be expected,” he added

The biggest drain on the system is the home’s ice chest, which though highly efficient and Energy Star certified, is the biggest power drain. But it doesn’t need any energy in the winter. They put it outside; winter temperatures can reach -40 Fahrenheit in Minnesota.

Cruikshank told CEA that he’s considering a hybrid renewable energy system for his family’s 2,500-square foot home. He is looking to install a hybrid solar/wind, grid-tied system but is still working out the details. Particularly he’s worried about keeping a load on a wind turbine. He’s also considering building his own turbine for the system.

The Granite Gear founders also are planning to make their Two Harbors, Minn., headquarters energy independent by installing a wind and solar system within the next year or two, Cruikshank said. He estimated that such a system would cost about $320,000, but Minnesota's solar rebates should cover about 40 percent of such a system’s costs. With these commitments to renewable energy, the company is helping to keep the skies sunny and the wild, wild.