Essex Heritage

Essex Heritage is the historic 500 square mile region north of Boston which hosts 2.7 million visitors annually from thirty countries, and is home to 738,000 residents. Bakers Island, five miles off the coast of Salem, MA, is a major attraction for residents and visitors to the region.

On Bakers Island is a light house and two light keepers’ houses, which are cottages built in the 1870s. Both houses have normal electrical wiring dating from the era when the lighthouse and peripherals were powered by an underwater electric cable from shore, but that connection was severed over thirty years and the lighthouse is now solar powered.

To allow the light house keepers to have access to power for water, refrigeration, lighting, fans, vital communications services such as local WiFi, and monitoring cameras, Sun Club donated $45,000 to install an off-grid solar system on the island. A combination of solar—to generate the electricity—and batteries—to store the electricity—will provide 24 hour electricity to the light house keepers year round.