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Solar energy, bad weather days, and the temporalities of slower homes

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cultural geographies

Published online on

Abstract

Solar energy harnessed through photovoltaic panels powers the greatest majority of the domestic electricity needs of off-grid homes. Solar energy can be rather easily stored in batteries; however, the cost of battery banks and the need to limit draining these batteries to increase their life, means that solar-powered home dwellers need to carefully monitor their energy consumption and reduce electricity use when solar energy becomes scarce. So what happens during fall and winter months when cloudy skies and long dark days make solar energy scarce? Drawing from ethnographic research with Canadian off-grid homeowners, this paper examines the everyday ways in which off-gridders adapt to seasonal darkness. Ethnographic data show how people’s diurnal and seasonal rhythms change in accordance with available sunlight and therefore more broadly how people’s relationships with place are shaped by changing temporalities of light and darkness. Focusing in particular on the alternative domestic technologies off-gridders use to reduce wattage consumption (e.g. LED televisions, DC lights, non-use of heat-producing appliances, use of manually-operated tools) and juxtaposing their lifestyles with domestic practices of the past this paper argues that off-gridders challenge the speed, light, and power assemblages of modernity, by cultivating slower rhythms and power self-sufficiency.