{"id":31865,"date":"2025-10-02T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T07:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=31865"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:27:18","slug":"traditional-working-ranchers-custodians-of-the-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/02\/traditional-working-ranchers-custodians-of-the-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Traditional Working Ranchers – custodians of the land"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The managers of remote J Bar L Ranch<\/a>, in Centennial Valley, Montana, US, see themselves as stewards of their land.<\/div>\n
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Placing the health and happiness of animals, people and the environment first, their focus is on preserving, restoring and sharing the natural beauty of the land in their care.<\/div>\n
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They\u2019re progressive ranchers: they raise cattle on the herbage which occurs naturally in the valley without the use of antibiotics, or growth hormones, while co-existing with wildlife and working to regenerate the soil and landscape. And they like to share the ranch’s big sky landscape with others \u2013 offering generous off-grid accommodation for family vacations, or for group events.<\/div>\n
Apart from the outdoor activities which the location has to offer \u2013 hiking, birding and wildlife watching, nearby fishing access and horseback riding outfitters \u2013 there are special retreats and clinics available to visitors; tutor led safe spaces to learn arts, crafts, personal growth and practical skills in a setting which allows participants to be present.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div><\/a> Time spent with family, friends and shared interests groups, far from urban hurry, provides an opportunity to reconnect with nature, with each other, and also with ourselves. For those staying longer, the accommodation at J Bar L Ranch comprises secluded traditional historic cabins and houses which have been renovated, refurbished \u2013 or in one case, even relocated \u2013 to provide a vacation home built with heart from natural materials; offering views you won\u2019t believe; and yet still equipped with pampering modern conveniences.<\/div>\n
The ranch is twenty miles from the nearest adopted road. Grid electricity serves about half of the ranch buildings \u2013 but when it fails, it\u2019s last in line for reconnection. Happily these days the ranch’s two main guest locations, as well as, the seasonal staff complex enjoy uninterrupted power \u2013 even when the grid fails \u2013 thanks to a major investment in solar based autonomous power.<\/div>\n
Guests won’t even know their paradise home is off-grid and powered by the sun …because that’s just how solar installer Harvest Solar MT<\/a>, planned it!
\"\"<\/div><\/a> Some solar energy provision had been present at the guest cabins for many years, but periodic renewals and upgrades led to a variety of equipment add-ons which were hard to manage. Failures occurred, generators whined.<\/div>\n
Meg Zaranek manages the ranch’s guest program:<\/div>\n
“In the past, the generator would kick on a lot, even during the day when the sun was out. With the new systems we definitely don\u2019t think about our power usage, and we no longer have to listen to a generator.<\/em>\u201d she says. \u201cA few weeks ago, the power company contacted us to tell us we’d be without power for part of the day because of grid maintenance – and we said \u2018Ok fine, that\u2019s not going to affect us, because we\u2019ve got out own back up power system<\/em>.”<\/div>\n

The systems were designed by the Harvest Solar team, headed by Kyle Macvean. Kyle says: “In the past, the caretakers would get calls that the power had gone down and they’d lost internet connection so they were bouncing around each location trying to get the generator started – or a lot of times they would just have to leave the generator running the entire time the guests were there just because they were busy and didn\u2019t have time to fix the power system. <\/em>That resulted in a lot of wasted fuel and extra generator maintenance, and it’s expensive to get a generator guy out there. <\/em> “The new system \u00a0has already saved the ranch a lot of time and money. As ranchers they still get on their horses every day and go out on the plain – so having reliable power has freed up time. Same for the caretakers and the maintenance foreman – allowing them to focus on other projects, which are many!”<\/em><\/p>\n

How much power? Working out the system size…<\/h4>\n

Harvest Solar MT<\/a>, based in Bozeman, Montana, designed three systems as upgrades for three off-grid solar power systems to provide power to the staff residence ranch house, and some vacation cabins for summer occupation.\"\"<\/a> \u201cWe always try to design a worst-case scenario so we looked at the maximum guest capacity for each cabin and time of use for each site, plus average hours of sunlight in this location throughout the year. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cFor guests who don\u2019t understand that they’re off-grid, we wanted to take pressure off the caretakers such that no matter what the use was, the system can handle it. In the worst-case scenario, the generator will start automatically to supply temporary power to peak loads, so the system will restore itself quickly in the event of heavy use.<\/em>\u201d<\/div>\n
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The principle devices installed were:<\/div>\n