The Flying Goose Brew Pub and Grille in New London serves delicious food and great brews at Crockett’s Corner in New London. Current owner Tom Mills has owned and operated the Flying Goose since 1993. In 1996 he gave what was originally called The Four Corners Grille a unique identity by creating a micro-brewery, serving delicious brews alongside delicious food. The Flying Goose is now managed by two of his children, Brianna and Brett.
The Flying Goose harvests the energy provided by the sun for hot water as well as electricity, and you’ll see their large solar array on the lawn and on their rear roof. The original idea came about after realizing they were paying quite a bit for electricity; they wanted to reduce that monthly expense, so they put up two solar arrays.
The photovoltaic array is 180 panels and is free-standing behind the business. They also heat their water with 25 panels on the roof, using it for their restaurant and brewery hot water needs. Two nearby schools have also recently installed large solar arrays. Both Colby-Sawyer College in New London and Proctor Academy in Andover make use of the energy provided by the sun with solar panels on the buildings of their schools.
Steve and Gisela Darling in Andover have also decided to go solar and, like the Flying Goose, they will do so for both power and hot water. In terms of electricity, they expect to generate
about 75% to 80% of their power from energy supplied by the sun.
About 30 years ago, back in the 70s, Steve realized there must be some other sources of energy besides what was readily available, such as oil and coal. So almost three years ago, Steve
took it upon himself to choose a non-traditional path and began by putting up solar panels to provide hot water.
In the future, Steve plans to have ReVision Energy in Exeter harness the sun’s abundant energy with a photovoltaic system to provide electricity to the Darlings’ home. There will be 12
free-standing solar panels in the Darlings’ backyard that face directly south and provide energy to their home. They expect to realize tremendous long-term benefits. The panels should continue to generate power for more than 25 years, all the while reducing their electric bill.
If the everyday homeowner is interested in meeting some or all of their electric or hot water needs with solar energy, they would first contact any solar company and get a solar information analysis done on their property. That company will come out with a device that determines solar south and the angle of the sun at different points in the season. With this device, they will take a picture, and this image will detail your solar exposure throughout the year.