It is hard enough to consider operating a boutique hotel on the beach in the Sea of Cortez, with all of the maintenance required. But image doing so in an area that is completely off-the-grid. VidaSoul, an Italian inspired boutique hotel with 16 rooms, the Crossroads Restaurant, pool and water toys is located in Boca de las Vinoramas on the East Cape just north of the junction of the coast road and Palo Escopeta. VidaSoul is also known for its program of live music. In fact, their next live music event will feature Javier from Chile – a one-man band – on Saturday, November 6th.

VidaSoul has been around for 20+ years and has gone through a number of upgrades to its solar system. However, this time Innovacion Solar is providing a completely new state-of-the-art system. The new system includes five Schneider power inverters. Each inverter can accept 6.8 kW per hour of power from the sun or a total of 34 kW. The Schneider system is also available to feed loads and recharge the batteries with a generator. There are also five new Schneider charge controllers for remaining existing panels. The solar panels will be augmented with 40 SunPower 485 W installed and operating with their charge controllers. These SunPower panels have a 40-year warranty. The current system has 32 kWH of Blue Ion lithium-ion batteries in two battery management cabinets the size of small wine refrigerators. The new system will add an additional new BLUE ION HI 16 kWH battery. The solar room is also being completely remodeled with a glass door and air conditioning. The new main electric load center will merge all loads and reorganize all of the electrical connections in the dedicated solar system room at the hotel.