All Sky Energy – Keith & Lisa Kahlow 

Keith and Lisa, a husband and wife team working in and around Baraboo Wisconsin, own and operate All Sky Energy, a solar installer catering to small residential and commercial projects, with an emphasis on custom work. They specialize in more complicated projects, including ground mount arrays and jobs that include battery back-up systems as well as customers who want to go completely off-grid.

To date All Sky Energy has completed over 2.5 MW of PV solar installations across Wisconsin.

The Kahlows have the experience to make their busy solar company thrive. Keith, who has a background in electrical construction, admits that he has always been interested in everything related to energy efficiency, but it was his work on projects that incorporated new energy efficiency technology that ultimately lead him to solar.

Lisa says she got into the business because Keith needed help. Keith adds that her graphic design, marketing, website development, photography and administrative skills have all contributed to the success of their business.

For Keith and Lisa, the commitment to solar is about more than running a solar installation business. They also live completely off-grid, with a ground mount bifacial array and battery storage system they installed themselves.

They made this decision for two reasons. As Keith puts it, it was 50% curiosity and 50% a way to better understand the needs of their customers, many of whom come to them for off-grid solutions. They both will readily agree though that not having to deal with a utility company is a nice bonus.

Living completely off-grid does require some lifestyle changes. As the Kahlows explain, they converted everything to electric to explore the full extent of what you can do off-grid. And they found that in the summertime, with longer days and more sun, there really is no need for compromise. The power will always be there when you need it.

All the compromises come into play when you get into the late fall and early winter, when the days are short, the sky is cloudier and there are more stormy days. “Then you really have to be aware of how much energy you use and on what.”

The Kahlows say that their kids have adapted well to living within their electricity budget. In fact, most of the time they don’t even seem to notice that things are different. As Keith said, “There have only been a few times when they wanted to do something and were denied. You can’t bake cookies if it’s been cloudy six days straight.”

Lisa says that since they’ve been in their off-grid house, the local utility has lost power at least half a dozen times and it doesn’t affect them. They did have one rain event that affected their system but the solution was simple and it caused no long term damage.

Why All Sky Uses Bifacial Solar Technology

All Sky Energy is committed to using bifacial panels in their projects, in part because they do more small ground mount projects than the average solar installer. Where a typical residential installer will do 80% roof mounts and 20% ground mounts, All Sky often does the opposite, with more ground mount projects than roof mounted arrays.

“Bifacial fits what we do really well.” says Keith, because, as he explains, ground mount arrays very much benefit from having bifacial panels. This is especially true in the last three years, when the price of bifacial dropped and the added power output of bifacial panels makes them really worth the small additional cost.

All Sky uses bifacial panels in all their ground mount projects and about half of their roof mount projects. And if they don’t use bifacials on a project, it’s usually more about aesthetics than performance. “They [customers] want the black panel. The black panel is common in newer subdivisions where people are really worried about the way things look. If it’s not available it’s a sticking point for bifacial panels.”

Keith says he doesn’t care about the way a panel looks. And brand names don’t really impress him either. “I do think there are certain companies that push brand names. We only install…whatever they are.” Keith has never thought that way. He’s watched name brand panels that don’t stand up to their less well-known competition. “Any company that makes a solar panel, and that’s all they make, that’s who you go with.”

Off-grid projects are one of All Sky’s specialties. People interested in living off-grid will often seek them out, because of their experience and commitment to the off-grid life.

Initially the Kahlows had mono-facial panels in their off-grid array. They made the decision to retrofit their own array to see how it would impact their system. Immediately they saw “really good gains” especially in November and December, which are the most difficult months for any off-grid system.

The retrofit gave them proof that bifacials offer the most significant gains in inclement weather and winter months, the same time of year when you need the power the most. This is experience they can share with their off-grid customers, who trust them to build systems that are reliable and capable of providing their power needs.

If batteries become cost effective (instead of an “extra cost”) Keith and Lisa see more people making the choice to get off grid. “Right now, the price of batteries is $300 to $350 per kW. Once we see that drop to $150 per kW there will be the chance to create much larger battery banks and power larger homes.”

Today people who choose to go off-grid aren’t making that choice because it saves them money or significantly improves their return on investment. More often they do it because they believe strongly in renewable energy. Sometimes they just want to get away from their utility company and grid dependency.

The Main Reason to Use Bifacial Technology

If there’s one takeaway that Keith wants people to understand it’s that the biggest motivating factor to use bifacial technology is that it produces extra power when you need it the most. And that’s where everyone else really seems to be lacking.

Going forward, Keith doesn’t see going back to mono-facial panels as an option. “I think it would be crazy. Utility projects…everything that’s ground mount is going to be bifacial. I don’t think it’s even a thought that it wouldn’t be. That’s where I think it’s going. It would be crazy not to.” And he laughs as he says this.

“Where bifacials help most with an off-grid system is where off-grid needs it the most.”

Keith Kahlow, All Sky Energies