Getting off the Grid: powering the house by solar electricity

12:00AM / Wednesday, April 24, 2002Print Story | Email Story

â€œIf you walk into our house, it seems like an absolutely normal American house,â€ says Roy Bryan. â€œThe TV and the computers all work, and right now, I have the dryer running.â€ No one would know, unless they were told, that Roy Bryan and Susan Minnich, of Coleâ€™s Brook Farm, are not tied into the electric grid. They produce their own electricity, through solar panels on their roof. They store their power in batteries in the basement and use it whenever they need it. Bryan gave a workshop on powering a house by solar energy on April 21 as part of â€œOur Community, Our Earth â€” Nuestra Cominidad, Nuestra Tuerra,â€ an Earth Day celebration in Great Barrington. He and Minnich have run their house and farm by solar power for at least 12 years, and Bryan has given talks about it. When a house goes off the grid, the owners become their own power company, he said. â€œThe rule of thumb is that if you are a mile off the grid, [the] economic advantage [is] to go solar. Otherwise, there is some cost to it, unless you can sell power back to the grid.â€ A houseâ€™s distance from the grid is simply its distance from the nearest telephone pole. Most people who want to make their own electricity pick solar, Bryan said. Fuel-cell technology is not quite within reach, and the other options that most people may have, hydroelectric and wind power, are both high maintenance. The owner of a windmill has to maintain and repair propellers. To power a house by water, the owner has to have a stream close by with a 40-foot drop in it, and has to survive spring floods and repair pipes. Solar is easy. To run a solar system, Bryan said, he just puts the panels up, and they just sit there. He does go out in winter and sweep them off with a broom, but this is not necessary. Anyone driving down the turnpike can see the telephone companyâ€™s solar panels, he said, and the phone company never cleans them. The panels will clean snow off themselves in a few days. Once the panels have collected energy, it is transferred to batteries and stored. NASA invented solar panels originally for space travel. It also invented what Bryan considers biggest advance in solar technology for commercial use, the inverter that converts direct current to alternating current. Solar power is direct current (DC), like batteries. All households in America, he explained, run on alternating current (AC). Even appliances that work off of direct current are designed to plug into an alternating current. NASAâ€™s inverter transfers stored solar energy into alternating current with 90 percent efficiency. Bryan and Minnich had to invest money for the wiring and equipment to set up their solar system. After about 10 years, it starts to pay off, Bryan said. They have slowly built up the system. â€œYou can start very small â€” two panels, a couple of batteries, maybe a few direct current bulbs.â€ This kind of system would make sense for weekend and summer residents, he said; in fact, he is surprised by the number of second-home owners who do not use solar power, who only or mostly use their second homes in the summer. Bryan and Minnich began with six panels, then rose to 12, and to 18. Because they live in their house year round, they have had to design their system to survive January, February and March, when there is not much sun. They have installed extra panels, and they stock up extra batteries. This time of year though, Bryan said, he pays no attention to his solar system until October. They generate more power in the summer than they can use. California engineers have figured out that solar systems generate extra energy in the hottest months of the year. They have made it easy to sell power back to the state to help power other peopleâ€™s air-conditioning, Bryan said. One can sell power back to the power grid, but Bryan has never wanted to; he would need to buy a special kind of converter and work very closely with the power company. It is also possible to generate some electricity from solar energy and still buy some through the grid. The solar inverter is set up for that. In fact, Massachusetts is also uniquely set up for â€œutility interconnect systems,â€ or houses that produce some of their electricity by solar power and also buy some from electric grid. Christopher Derby-Kilfoyle of BPVS, a solar systems and equipment retail business that is moving into Adams, said MassElectric and Western MassElectric are national leaders in accommodating solar and grid connections. Solar or photovoltaic (PV) technology has been around since the 1950s, he said. It is considered the cleanest source of energy, since sunlight is its only fuel. It is also the first energy system that has no moving parts. Massachusetts is considered a leader in solar technology as well, Derby-Kilfoyle said. Several firms around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have pioneered in it. Derby-Kilfoyleâ€™s company has been installing PV systems for 17 years. The reason we have a halfway decent solar industry today, Bryan added, is that Jimmy Carter fostered it during his presidency. For a while, the government offered tax credits to people who built solar systems. Carter established the roots of the industry. When Reagan came in, he promptly canceled those tax credits. The industry would have been far larger if it had been nourished by a couple more administrations. Still, solar has been around longer than many people think, Bryan said. More and more building and wiring inspectors understand it. The biggest hurdle to solar-powering a house has often been bureaucracy, he said; it can be harder to get a bank loan on a solar-powered house, for example. Solar Energy Equipment and Systems retailers: New England Solar Electric (Vermont) BVPS (Stamford Vt., and moving to new offices in Adams) Berkshire Solar Sense (Fairway Ave., Pittsfield) Sun Energy (Merrill Rd. Pittsfield) For more information: Nancy Nylen, associate director of the Center for Ecological Technology (CET), recommends the New England Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)â€™s web site: www.nesea.org. Christopher Derby-Kilfoyle seconds that recommendation, and adds the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust: www.mtpc.org.

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Friday Front Porch Feature: A Charming House Like New

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:57PM / Friday, December 19, 2025

The home prior to renovations.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Are you looking for a newly renovated home with great space? Then this might be the perfect fit for you!

Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing 100 Autumn Drive.

This three-bedroom, two-bathroom split level was built in 1965 and is 1,396 square feet on 0.32 acres.

The house was completely renovated recently. It includes a one-car garage, and comes with appliances including a dishwasher and stove/oven, and other major appliances.

The house is listed for $359,500.

We spoke with owners Michael Zeppieri and Chris Andrews, who did the renovations. Zeppieri is an agent with Alton and Westall Real Estate Agency.

What was your first impression when you walked into the home?

Zeppieri: I purchased this home to do a full renovation flip and saw tremendous potential in this mid-century split level home that had not been updated since it was built in the 1960s, in a great North Adams neighborhood.

Andrews: The house was a much different house when we first purchased it in 2022 (photo attached is from about 2010.) The interior was painted all in dark colors and we brightened it up with neutral colors. The transformation makes you feel like you are in a totally different house.

What were the recent renovations, any standout design features?

Zeppieri: The house has had a complete reconfiguration including new kitchen with high-end appliances, ceramic tiled baths, hardwood floors, new windows and roof ... just to name a few. All a buyer has to do is move in and enjoy.

Andrews: Yes, we renovated the entire house. New windows, new roof, all new custom black gutter system, new blacktop driveway, hardwood floors were installed through out the house. New kitchen and bathrooms as well as painting the exterior and interior of the house. New paver patio in the back yard.

What kind of buyer would this home be ideal for?

Zeppieri: The buyer for this home could be a first-time homebuyer or a retiree ... the location is close to attractions in North Adams ... and the property is located in Autumn Heights, which is a very small residential development with several long-term owners.

Andrews: This home is truly ideal for a variety of buyers. Whether a first-time homebuyer, a small family or even someone looking to downsize from a larger home.

What do you think makes this property stand out in the current market?

Zeppieri: The location, price and move-in condition of this home make it a true market leader in the North Adams Market.

Andrews: This house is completely renovated and in a desirable location of North Adams. The natural light in the home really makes the interior pop. And with all the upgrades the home stays quite cool in the summer months.

Do you know any unique stories about the home or its history?

Zeppieri: This home was built for the Gould family in 1969 and they lived there till 2010. It was always a family home during that time in which the Goulds had two children ... and Virgina Gould managed Mohawk Forest Apartments and was a very active resident of North Adams.

Andrews: Built in about 1965.

What do the current owners love about this home?

Zeppieri: As the current owner it was a fun project to transform this home and get it ready for its next adventure with a new family to enjoy for many years.

Andrews: No one has lived in the house since we purchased the home. The new owners would be the first to live in the house since the renovations have been completed.

What would you say to a buyer trying to imagine their life in this space?

Andrews: I would suggest seeing the house either on a sunny day or at twilight to really get a vision of how special the home feels.

You can find out more about this house on its listing here.

*Front Porch Feature brings you an exclusive to some of the houses listed on our real estate page every week. Here we take a bit of a deeper dive into a certain house for sale and ask questions so you don't have to.

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