Minneapolis Garage Goes Solar Power

When you think of a house that people were building in 1910, you probably don't think much of its ability to adapt to 21st-century infrastructure such as solar power. In the 20 years, I've lived in my old four square, I thought about it obsessively. But I always concluded that it wasn't structurally possible or economically possible to pursue these adaptations. In the past year, the planets finally fell into alignment when plummeting solar panel costs and the need to rebuild my garage combined. This allowed me to obtain a solar installation that promised to provide over 90 percent of my old home's electrical needs. I've come to realize that old houses can be surprisingly flexible with infrastructure adaptation. Also that owners should consider any renovation as an opportunity to update the home with green infrastructure such as solar power.

I'm not the first owner of my home to consider major retrofits to adapt to changing energy needs. After being initially heated by coal, the boiler was adapted for fuel oil and ultimately natural gas. This change was made possible with a gas line replacing a coal chute and an oil storage tank from the street. Considering this history, I began to see the house as an ever-evolving organism that adapts to changing times.

I've aspired to live in a solar-powered home since the 1980s, but when I purchased my first home, I got an assessment from a solar provider that was grim. I could only fit about 2-4 panels on my irregular roofline, powering only about 10% of our electrical needs. That put the payback on the project to almost 30 years – the expected life span of the panels. Discouraged but determined, I put the ambition on the back burner and continued to solicit bids every 3-5 years to see if it ever became economically feasible to do solar. Each contractor would say the same thing. Because of the gabled rooflines of both the house and garage, and with the extrusions of attic and sewer vents and skylights, there wasn't enough room to get enough panels on the roof. I'd probably have to wait until my next home to consider it.

My eureka moment came about two years ago when I realized my old one-car garage was about to collapse. It was probably constructed with a Model T in mind; it was poorly retrofitted to accommodate longer cars in the 1950s. Its compromised structural integrity made every trip into the garage one of fear of collapse. As the foundation and structural beams continued to deteriorate, I realized I couldn't wait any longer. But wait! I can design the new garage to make sure it can accommodate and maximize the use of solar panels!

The journey to getting solar up and running took almost a year. I needed to keep the plans for solar in every conversation related to the new garage – with the architect, the builder, and the city hall. The project's success came down to five key questions: