Sandpoint / Idaho / United States
Steve and Elizabeth Willey started BACKWOODS SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEMS as a home based business in 1978, after successfully pioneering the use of photovoltaics for their own mountain home, two miles from utility lines. As of June 11th, 2004, Steve and Elizabeth have retired but their current employees continue to operate the business for a new owner who intends to maintain the Backwoods Solar that our customers know! As one of the major mail order renewable energy businesses, Backwoods Solar Electric once operated from a remote mountain-top property. Both home and business were 100% powered by the time tested equipment described in the catalog: 85% by the sun, with wind and back-up generator covering the balance in snowy winter months. As of mid-August 2004, Backwoods moved out of Steve and Elizabeths home and relocated to a facility just a couple of miles down the road. All of our technical salespeople own and operate an off-grid home that is powered by the products we sell. Scott and Traceys post and beam home is powered by a Harris Hydro system with Xantrex and Morningstar products. John powers his log cabin with Kyocera and Evergreen solar modules plus Outback products. Shawn uses a Bergey wind turbine and Kyocera solar modules as well as Outback power components. Terry has an ES&D hydro turbine plus Kyocera solar modules on a tracker with Xantrex power products. Tom utilizes Shell SQ 175 modules and Outback products for the home he built from the lumber he milled from the trees on his property. Alan is currently designing his off-grid home and provides backup power to a grid-connected deep well pump with a Xantrex inverter and transformer. Backwoods Solar is a catalog sales source specifically dedicated to serving homes so remote that access to utility lines is not practical. We are an intentionally small business of eight solar electric specialists offering personal attention to self-reliant home owners who choose and install their own power systems. Scott, John, Tracey, Shawn, Terry, Tom, Julie or Sequoya personally answer all letters, email, and calls during business hours, to help with your questions and equipment needs. You can browse our full catalog available on this website, but it is quite extensive. If you find this catalog suits your needs, you may want to request a print copy for easier reference, where you can make notes and more easily compare items and refer to the educational material. It is 185 page book size, usually $5, but FREE to folks when utility lines are not possible to your site. Just email, postal mail, phone, or fax your request with your mailing address. We will send the catalog, plus notify you of any new online newsletters during the year. Our mailing list is never given out nor sold, so you wont be getting any unsolicited mailings that way.
