Case Study

Beverly and Pierre moved to Ojai, CA, to build an eco-friendly home for their retirement. Pierre is an environmentalist and engineer, and Beverly is an affordable housing advocate and former property development asset manager, so they were committed to creating a sustainable living space.

The couple arrived in Ojai in August and lived in a camper while their custom, prefab modular home was built in a factory in only 25 days. Then, three trucks delivered the home to the land they’d purchased in a residential neighborhood.

Completely off-grid, the triple-insulated, energy-efficient home is powered by a PV solar system that charges eight PHI 3.4kWH batteries -- making available 27.5kWh of power to both satisfy their home energy needs and charge an electric car. The solar+storage system also includes OutBack inverters and charge controllers and a Midnite solar combiner box. Heat and air conditioning are provided by a Goodman heat pump, and a natural gas generator supplies backup power when necessary.

The home was put to the test immediately when the Thomas Fires broke out in Ojai in December 2017. As the grid went down, Beverly and Pierre’s home was the only house in their neighborhood that maintained power. They were able to offer the use of their refrigerator and charging stations to neighbors.