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JOLICO FARM. . We're GREEN!!
Welcome to Jolico Farm
A 21st Century Solar and Wind Powered Homestead Demonstration Project, in Somerset Pennsylvania since 1978!
OUR HISTORY IN SOLAR AND WIND. . . Jolico Farm, a 21st century, 70-acre homestead founded in 1971, is located in Somerset in the Laurel Highland Mountains of SW Central Pennsylvania. Maxine and Art were married in 1969. We were both drawn to the land, country living, and a simpler lifestyle. On May 5, 1973 we made the move to our cattle farm in the country. In 1987 we sold our cattle and became vegetarians. Raising beef cattle can do that to you!
 In 1974 a terrible snowstorm hit us on Sunday evening at the end of Thanksgiving Weekend. Forty inches of heavy, wet snow fell that night, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Our electricity went out at 7:40 pm and did not return for 5 days. Others were not so lucky and experienced power outages for up to 3 weeks. The most costly storm in the history of our county, it destroyed the electric power infrastructure. We survived with the help of relatives who brought us a generator which we used to pump water for our cattle and horses and to run the furnace in our 1870's farmhouse. We were so unprepared for this emergency, we didn't even have a fireplace! Our interest in alternative, self-sustaining energy production was born. We have been adding components to our energy system since 1978. In those years we were all pioneers. Nobody was an expert.
 In 1978 we became the first solar/wind powered farm to co-generate on the GPU electric grid with a rebuilt 1953 Jacobs Windmill and a Gemini Synchronous Inverter (#89!) An Aermotor water pumping windmill with an 8' blade enables us to pump water from a 174' well, store it in two 1000 gallon underground tanks and gravity feed the water to all our buildings without the use of auxiliary pumps. Upgrades and improvements led us to install a Northern Power Systems HR2 wind generator in 1982. 4500 watts of solar electric panels, 3000 watts of which are mounted on active trackers, were added in 1992.
 In 2008, to help offset the rising cost of energy, and take advantage of available Federal Energy Tax Credits, we installed an Apricus domestic solar hot water heating system which utilizes 50 evac tubes. This system provides us with as much as 90% of our domestic hot water needs during the late spring, summer and early fall months. While it continues to heat water during the winter months, our Tarm wood-fired boiler provides the majority of our domestic hot water via a thermal loop and heats our 3000 square foot restored farmhouse at 80% efficiency.
In 2000 we built a two-acre spring-fed lake and stocked it with Bass, Crappie, Yellow Perch, Channel Catfish, Blue Gills, Crawfish, Snails, Fresh Water Clams, Goldfish and Bullfrogs. The abundant fish population attracts migrating Golden Eagles and Blue Herons and each year, to our delight, wild geese and ducks raise their young on the water. The lake is a completely private and hidden oasis, tucked away from the outside world. We enjoy walking down daily to swim, relax, ride the pedal-boat and enjoy the changing seasons from our dock. In 2008 the fish will be large enough to begin to catch for dinner!
 Our solar controls consist of two 2500 watt SMA Sunny Boy synchronous inverters which convert 380 volts DC into 240 volts AC utility-grade power which is first used in our home and the excess is sent out to the grid, turning our electric meter backwards! We were not forced to use alternative energy; we already had utility power. A backup generator would have been sufficient for emergency power and we do utilize one today, a 7kW water-cooled diesel Multiquip. We chose the alternative energy lifestyle because, even back in 1978 we recognized that we had a responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth. And once we started building, we just couldn't stop, it was so much fun!
Links to Other Locations
For more information on the Solar Panels Plus line of solar hot water heating systems, please visit our Home Page, Jolico Solar Power, or visit them directly at SolarPanelsPlus.com.
To see the complete line of Sun Frost Refrigerators, visit their website at Sun Frost
Royal Moses Jolico Von Tasz is a White German Shepherd Dog. Visit Mo, his friends and his family at
The Flying Mo Webpage.
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