Adirondack Battery helping people ‘live off the grid’

HOPKINTON — When Amanda L. Potter purchased land off Hayden Road more than a decade ago, she originally had planned to build a conventional home with utility-provided electricity.

But when Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., now National Grid, informed Ms. Potter how much it would cost to run lines to her property, she decided to live “off the grid.”

“Niagara Mohawk was going to charge me $46,000 to run lines down here. Then they were going to do me the favor of financing it on my bill for 15 years at 17 percent interest,” she said. “I decided that could buy a lot of fuel.”

Initially Ms. Potter powered her property through diesel-powered generators, but three years ago she decided to add solar panels to the property.

“I’ve reduced my fuel bill by 95 percent, just by having that as a different fuel source,” she said, adding that the power generated by her solar panels then is transferred to battery packs. “Everything except for my welder I can run off my battery packs.”

She said even without sun for three days, she would be fine.

“I can run for three days off my batteries,” she said.

And it is that dependence on batteries that led her to create her own business, Adirondack Battery LLC.

“Nobody was doing this and I thought it was a great opportunity to become a battery distributor and provide this service to the north country,” she said.

While people may not think much of solar power in the north country, she said, just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you can’t generate power.

“These solar panels actually work better in the cold,” she said. “I have them where I can sweep them off.”

Solar panels, windmills or micro hydro energy generation all may be great ways to generate power for your home, but Ms. Potter said those systems can be taken to the next level with batteries.

With solar systems, Ms. Potter said, “If you don’t have storage, once the sun goes down you can’t do anything. My batteries are that storage solution.”

While Ms. Potter’s focus may be on renewable energy, she also sells many other types of batteries.

“I carry all different types of batteries, car, truck, bulldozer, farm tractors, ATVs, side-by-sides, sleds, golf carts and more.”

Although Ms. Potter has been in business since September of 2010, she is hoping to take her business to the next level, and a grant from the St. Lawrence County Local Development Corp. is helping her do just that.

According to a joint statement released by Ms. Potter and the LDC, a $20,000 loan will enable her to expand her product line, as well as purchase testing and charging equipment that she is installing in a tow-behind trailer.

“That’s my mobile display unit,” she said.

Ms. Potter said she hopes to add employees sometime this year “to help with deliveries and in the warehouse.”

She also said there is no retail location for Adirondack Battery; customers contact her by telephone at 212-2114 or email at adirondackbattery@gmail.com with their needs and Ms. Potter will help them determine what exactly they need. She then delivers the batteries.

She hopes one day to have a retail location somewhere in the Canton or Potsdam area.