Haliburton Solar + Wind has moved from Abbey Gardens to a new home on Hwy. 35 in Minden.
Owner Carolina Barberi said, “it was about finding a central location for all the staff. We have staff that live as far away as Lindsay, and travelling to Abbey Gardens was just too far.
“Additionally, there was no storage at Abbey Gardens, so it made our ability to plan our projects a little bit more complicated.”
She said they had equipment stored at her home, the foreman’s home, and some on-site, which made coordinating difficult.”
Having the storage (at #12667 Hwy. 35 Minden, unit 2) is really important.”
Barberi said the other bonus is the exposure that comes with being located on a highway.
“Just for visibility … we’ve already had people just pop in randomly to ask questions, whereas at Abbey Gardens, unless you were at Abbey Gardens, people didn’t know we were there; after being there for 10 years, people still didn’t know we were there.”
Founder and former owner, Brian Nash, established Haliburton Solar + Wind in 2012 and moved the business to a custom-made building at Abbey Gardens in 2017. He sold to Barberi and Joel Ideson, master electrician, in 2021.
Ideson looks across the highway to the Hydro One depot, and jokes, “my biggest reason for being here? I can keep an eye on the competition.”
Comedy aside, Barberi added, “it made a lot of sense. We needed to have better exposure, have a central location to make planning for our projects easier. This is great. Say we were travelling to Dorset, and needed to fill the trucks with gas, we’d be asking ‘where is the nearest gas station?’ and having to travel back from Haliburton or Minden. Now, we have a gas station just up the highway. Logistically, this made sense.”
When Nash moved into Abbey Gardens, it was into a sustainably-built solar powered and off-grid building; the first of its kind at the time. The building showcased offgrid technologies on the Abbey Gardens property.
Ideson said it’s driving him crazy there are no solar panels at the new digs – yet. “My eventual goal is to have a full gridconnected demonstration because the industry has rapidly changed over the last three years or so. What we’re installing this year; we probably won’t install next year. It will be obsolete. The focus now is on grid-connected, basically energy reduced or load displacement. Using your own power, keeping grid in the background as needed, and also having the ability to discharge batteries based on time of use etc.”
He elaborates, “moving forward, that needs to be the central focus of the company. We’re still going to obviously do off-grid, but off-grid is becoming far more complicated with the increased size and loads people have.”
Barberi added, “what’s great about the hybrid model is it allows people the ability to live off-grid with the security of a backup.”
The former Algonquin Outfitters store has had a facelift, replete with new paint, and ceiling tiles. And while the space is new, Barberi said the goal remains the same.
“Always education; explaining to people what is available, and how it works. One of the biggest things with this industry is demystifying how it works. There’s a lot of people who don’t understand.”
She added with provincial grants announced this year, allowing up to $5,000 back on roof-mounted solar, and up to $5,000 for energy storage, now applying to any property, not just primary, they are getting inquiries.
Haliburton Solar and Wind is at #12667 Hwy. 35, unit 2. 705-455-2637.
