Baked by the sun

Gone are the smell of diesel fuel and the background hum of the generator at the Polebridge Mercantile. In the generator's place stand two solar panels, which provide power to the famous store — silently, and at little cost to the environment — which is exactly what owners Flannery Coats and Stuart Reiswig wanted.

"We had both been interested in alternative energy sources," Coats said. "With the generator glugging away we couldn't hear the beauty of nature. We wanted (the energy) to come from a renewable source."

They contacted Jeff Arcel of Mother's Power in Whitefish. He helped them evaluate the amount of electricity they use and what kind of system to install.

When Coats and Reiswig took over stewardship of the mercantile and bakery last summer, part of their plan was to reduce their energy use.

"Our main goal was to live somewhere with no electricity, to live off the grid, to live with those challenges," Coats said. "You have to be more in tune with where energy comes from. You don't just flip a switch."

The new 24 to 230 watt solar panels, one of the largest systems in the area, can generate six kilowatts per hour in full sunlight. They charge 16 deep cell batteries for use when the skies are cloudy. And while solar panels are considered suspect by many people in an area known for gray skies, the panels have provided most of the energy the mercantile has used in the past few months.

The panels were installed in January and turned on March 5. Since March, of the roughly 1,000 kilowatt hours of energy the store has consumed, more than 800 kilowatt hours of power have been provided by the solar panels.

"We used to run the generator 16 hours a day," Reiswig said. "Now we run it two hours some days."

Reiswig and Coats plan further improvements to the store, which includes replacing the traditional outhouses with composting toilets.

"That's in the five-year plan," Coats said. "Right now we have outhouses. It's half the character; we don't want to get rid of the experience of the wind on your bum, but the river is right there."

In the name of increased efficiency for their business, the couple also wants to add more solar panels and is considering studying the area for possible wind energy. At some point, the pair plans to replace part of the kitchen and would like to bake using only wood for fuel. Kitchen appliances are currently gas and electric.

"We want to bake more goods and get more efficient," Coats said.

The Polebridge Mercantile isn't the only building in the North Fork that relies partially on the sun.

Oliver Meister, who owns the North Fork Hostel, estimates that 80 to 90 percent of area residents utilize solar power.

"It makes life so much easier," Meister said of the solar panels. "I don't have to listen to the generator anymore."

Coats and Reiswig have planned a formal solar panel dedication ceremony June 20, the summer solstice.

"I've been thinking a lot about who and what we are going to dedicate the panels to," Coat said. "It's the lessons we've learned from the folks who came before us who used and used and didn't think about it. We want to be the generation that thinks about the next generation. We want the next generation to see the world the way we've seen (it)."