Bigfork gas station goes solar

Most of Bigfork went dark when a summer storm took out electricity throughout the Flathead a couple weeks ago. The exception was a little gas station and casino at the intersection of Highways 35 and 83.

Your Turn Mercantile has been working on their solar system for over a year and finally went online Thursday, Aug. 30, selling their extra power back to Flathead Electric Cooperative. Carbon Recall out of Kalispell installed 93 of the 4 by 6-foot panels covering a new parking awning and the roof of the store.  

Store owner and operator Doug White was excited about the project, which he started as a way to save on his electric bills. At the same time he was considering solar for Your Turn Mercantile, he was getting it set up at his house in Bigfork. 

The USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program awarded him a $100,000 grant for the store, half the cost of the solar setup and install. With an estimated $20,000 in electric savings between his home and the store each year, and a $60,000 tax deduction, White estimated the project would be completely paid for in two years.  

“When you’re going into retirement, $20k on utilities is big savings,” he said.  

The store can run for four to six hours on the solar system’s batteries, which provide 50 kVA. 

“We don’t lose power a lot, but if we do, we can still be available to customers when everyone else in town is down,” said store manager Charity Neal.  

Neal has managed Your Turn Mercantile for 14 years and lives in an apartment above the store and casino, also powered by solar. The batteries for the solar system sit inside her house. She has been happy with the system’s performance, and the employees like having shade to park under in the newly paved lot that houses the solar awning.  

“There were still people in here even when we lost battery power,” Neal said of the last outage. “Our casino is still open when we’re on solar.” 

White said that for a small business, operating hours are critical to the bottom line.  

The downside to the solar setup was the initial investment, White explained. As part of receiving government funding, they were required to prove they had the $200,000 upfront and pay it themselves before being reimbursed. The system itself was also a complicated install, but White said Carbon Recall and REAP were great to work with and will only get better as they continue doing more solar projects.  

“It’s not really thinking that it’s the right thing to do for the environment, not really, but if I can consume less electricity, it makes a smaller footprint and I think everybody should work a little teeny bit at whatever our carbon footprint is,” White said. “At the end of the day, I think it’s the right thing to do.” 

Since White has gone through the process already, he is open to helping other small businesses interested in solar and can be reached at 406-250-2558.  

“If you can weather the storm, I would more than recommend it,” he said.