Lake Edge Cottages Future-Proofs Property With 110 Solar Panels In Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Mother Nature and Lake Edge Cottages are celebrating as the latter has installed 110 solar panels to future-proof its property in a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on Wednesday morning.

(from left to right) Jacob Wildfong, Steve Wildfong, Paulette Prentice, Director General and Anne Wildfong. The Wildfongs own the 12.5-acre property just north of Lakefield. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The panels cover multiple buildings of the resort including a garage and several cottages. They cost roughly $145,000-$150,000 to build but owners of the Wildfong family were awarded $85,000 from the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

The Lakefield resort can run on a hybrid power source with solar and hydro moving forward that will save the property on energy costs according to co-owner Jacob Wildfong.

“When the sun goes down, we draw from the hydro grid,” said Wildfong. “During the day, we'll produce more than double what we need on the resort.”

Jacob (right) tours the property, displaying several amenities the cottages have to offer such as pet-friendly facilities, pool and boat launch dock. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Wildfong continues to say that it would be a dream for him if other companies could start to follow suit in creating a more ‘green’ business.

“We're not just protecting the past but we're giving hope to people in the future,” he explained. “For us, we're not saying it's inexpensive to do it but think about the money that people spend on renovating a kitchen. You have to look at this as a renovation. You have to look beyond yourself and you have to think beyond the cost. There is a payback to it.”

To continue the green movement in the resort, Wildfong is promoting the new use of their electric vehicle charging station.

“We're encouraging guests that have vehicles to come and charge up here if they're overnight guests. There's no fee, we're using it as complementary and encouraging people to bring their green vehicles so they can fill up.”

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