World's loneliest house switches to solar power in Iceland

Ellidaey Island off Iceland's south coast, part of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, became famous thanks to a house that social media users have dubbed "the world's loneliest house." Its owners — members of the local Ellidaey association — have replaced imported gasoline and propane with solar panels and a battery.

An island with no roads

Ellidaey covers about 0.45 square kilometers, roughly the size of the Vatican. It can only be reached by boat, and only in good weather: there are no roads, cables or pipelines on the island. The house used to serve not as a home in the usual sense but as a utility building, where winter supplies and hunting and fishing gear were stored. Today the island is visited mainly by members of the Ellidaey association, which owns the building, and by hunters.

Every new load has to be brought in by boat and then hoisted up the high cliffs with a winch — that's how the new equipment was brought ashore too. "To keep the house running for the last 60 to 70 years, we had to rely on gasoline and propane. Getting them out here is extremely difficult, and it's not good for nature either," said Ragnar Thor Jóhannsson, chairman of the association.

A battery and the sun instead of a generator

The same winch was used to bring a new 5kWh domestic battery to the island, and two solar panels were installed on the roof of a small building next to the hunting cabin. "Where connecting to the grid simply isn't possible, you're left relying on generators. But that always means problems with fuel and getting it there. A battery and solar panels are exactly the right fit here," explained Simon Smith, a British specialist in off-grid home energy systems.

The new system powers the stove, an electric kettle, lighting and communication equipment — the last of these especially important in such a remote spot, in case help needs to be called. The association is also hoping for fewer supply trips: a fridge-freezer will be brought to the island, allowing food to be kept longer and cutting down on the fuel and time spent on deliveries. "Everyday life here is going to change dramatically. It'll be easier for us to store food, we'll save money, and we'll be helping nature," Jóhannsson says happily.

A test under the harshest conditions

The supplier of the new technology is pleased too: on Ellidaey, winds can reach 100 km/h and waves can top nine meters. "The big upside for us is that we're testing the system under about the most extreme conditions there are. There's no backup here — it either works or it doesn't," Smith says. Jóhannsson agrees: if the technology can withstand loads like that, it will work anywhere. The house that social media turned into a symbol of total isolation is entering a new era — no longer dependent on regular fuel deliveries, and now generating its own power.

The neighbors: puffins

Ellidaey is interesting for more than just its isolation. The island is an important nesting site for puffins: the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago as a whole is home to some of the largest colonies of these birds in the world, and tens of thousands of pairs raise chicks on Ellidaey itself every year. These are the very birds the members of the association that owns the house hunt.

Source: novinky.cz