Pet groomers Go Solar Powered

Business

Paw Resort and Wellness Centre co-owner Joanne Nichols stands in front of the new solar array she and her husband Frank are having installed at their business and home just west of Brandon off of Gray Road. (Tim Smith/Brandon Sun)

Many pet owners have long suspected their animals are solar-powered — who hasn’t seen a dog or cat lying out in the sun, soaking up all of nature’s bounty?

Now, a Brandon pet-grooming and boarding business is doing the same and getting solar power for their business.

The Paw Resort and Wellness Centre, located a few kilometres west of Brandon on Gray Road, just off Provincial Road 459, grooms and looks after dogs and cats of all sizes with the occasional bunny rabbit or other pocket animal.

This month, owners Frank and Joanne Nichols are getting three big solar arrays set up on their property by Prairie-based company Living Skies Solar.

These solar arrays are big and sturdy. When hail and a thunderstorm tore through Westman on Thursday, the crew assembling them just stood underneath for shelter. They looked none the worse for wear on Friday.

Two of the arrays will be used to handle the power needs for their main buildings while the third will be used to power the rest of the buildings on their land.

Living Skies Solar head of installation Kyle Reimer works with his crew to install a solar array for the Paw Resort and Wellness Centre just west of Brandon off of Gray Road. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

“Less footprint for us was the main (motivation),” said Frank, adding he wants to do his part to fight global warming. “It’s not a good thing,” he said.

Frank said their main building, which was built eight years ago, was well-insulated and had a geothermal heating system installed to minimize how much electricity they use. Still, they have a lot of appliances running, such as laundry machines and cleaning equipment.

The Nichols aren’t having a battery system installed, so the solar power will only feed into the grid when there’s enough sunlight. They’ll still need power from the grid, but the solar system will reduce their dependence.

“Here at The Paw we’re doing one of the bigger systems we’ve done,” said Kyle Reimer of Living Skies Solar. “About 140 kilowatts, 400 panels. It’ll offset their complete business needs as well as their home electricity needs.”

Reimer said fewer businesses have wanted to go solar after the province’s solar energy rebate program ended in April 2018.

“Our kids got us going on recycling,” Joanne said while grooming a cocker spaniel. “They were very frustrated with us because we didn’t throw things in the correct bins, so we learned from that. One of our daughters lives in Banff and she is zero waste. She comes home and educates us about plastics and how we can buy our products better.

“Our son is into plants and bugs, so he makes sure that we’re planting native grasses and things that are good for the bees and the butterflies,” she said, adding they’re making a bee habitat in their yard and have also started composting the dog hair they collect.

Yes, composting dog hair. Joanne said 35 to 45 kilograms of dog hair is collected each week from their grooming room. The only other way they know how the fur can be reused is to clean up oil spills. They’re on a list, but have yet to be asked to provide any hair.

Apparently the composting process takes a long time, but other items can be added to speed up the process.

The Nichols say a couple of their kids visited from out of town recently and approved of their parents’ plans.

Frank and Joanne believe the system will have paid for itself within 10 to 15 years.

“I think in the long run it will be worth it,” Frank said.

The third array has yet to be installed, and Manitoba Hydro still needs to connect the solar system to the grid, but the Nichols said everything should be operational in two weeks.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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