Offgrid Center

Bárcena de Bureba has been deserted because it wasn't connected to the power grid 100 years ago. Initially, the residents found it too scary; your hair stands on end, and you could even die Barcena it. Later, the younger generation raised funds, but someone ran off with the money. Long story short, a village without electricity, and the last resident left 40 years ago.

We want to make the village inhabitable again, but in a better way with a smaller ecological footprint. With current technology, solar panels will form the basis of our energy generation. We asked The Hague University of Applied Sciences to conduct a study to see if this is feasible. After six months of work, they delivered an initial version of the report, indicating that it's possible, but support will be needed during the winter months. This support was initially based on biofuel. Hopefully, we can avoid this; we're not looking forward to burning wood, especially if 50 houses are all doing it.

To gain experience and because we need electricity during construction, we will initially set up a system. This system should be expandable and capable of capturing and storing solar power. Additionally, it should be flexible in managing electricity. We want to establish two networks: one with high-priority power for essentials like the refrigerator that always needs to be on, and one for low-priority devices like the television that can be turned off during power shortages.

We had looked around on the internet and stumbled upon a Chinese system a few months ago. While this system may have worked well, despite being okay with doing a lot ourselves, I wanted more support with such a system.

After an internet search, I found the Offgrid Center. On their website, they specialize in tiny houses, caravans, and other offgrid systems. Additionally, I was very pleased to see that they were willing to brainstorm and collaborate. I sent them an email about our project and asked if we could talk. After an email and a phone call, they expressed great enthusiasm, and we arranged to meet in Wierden.

That's a four-hour train ride back and forth, so it took some calendar coordination, but we were able to meet quickly. We spoke with Nander for 90 minutes, who provided us with a wealth of information at lightning speed. Batteries, inverters, DC versus AC, management, water purification, and toilet options. It was very clear and looked of high quality. We agreed to collaborate and start with an initial system.

Two days later, we received the list of items. We exchanged some more questions and are now ready to order. It will be delivered as a pallet in the Netherlands, after which we will transport it to Spain with our trailer. It will be an exciting journey, and it will be even more exciting to get everything up and running there. But with the help of the Offgrid Center, it will certainly succeed!