Brickhouse Farm is a sixth-generation family business, with Ben Barlage at the helm. Ben, his wife and two children live on the small, certified organic Long Prairie farm with 150 acres of tillable land. They grow “a little bit of everything,” including cash crops like corn and soybeans, beef and lamb, honey, maple syrup and garlic. It’s a completely self-sustaining system, where the hay that’s grown is fed to the cattle born on the farm. Taking a look at installing solar panels seemed like a natural fit.
Barlage was originally interested in solar energy so he could generate his own power and not have an electric bill. “My wife and I go the organic conference in St. Cloud every year, and we saw a booth for solar energy there. We met Sarah from All Energy Solar and told her we were interested,” said Barlage.
After a conference call to discuss costs, warranty and other details, Barlage committed to installing solar panels on the roof of his machine shop. In June 2019, All Energy installed about 75 panels covering the entire roof.
Barlage was extremely happy with the All Energy Solar team. “From the consultation, the project manager to the installers, the professionalism was apparent. The installers were just a lot of fun to have around—they finished the process in two to three days and cleaned up everything once it was finished,” Barlage said.
So far, the solar installation has generated enough electricity to fully power the farm for five months of the year, from June to September, and reduced electricity bills from March until May. Barlage also has power credits that he starts using in November.
Barlage said he’s been very impressed with All Energy Solar, and a year and half later, they still check in with him to see how things are going. “It’s a big investment, and it’s nice to still have conversations and feel valued as a customer after the installation is done,” Barlage added. “It’s nice to work with a company that’s professional and organized.”
The benefits of solar go beyond producing power. “For us, for my small certified organic farm, it’s a value-added talking point to our self-sustaining model. People find it very cool, and they are interested in learning more. I tell people that anyone can do solar,” said Barlage.
