No one could ever claim that Laurence McKay is stuck in the dark ages. McKay, owner of Northern Lights Energy Systems on St. Joseph Island, is in the alternative energy business. He installs solar panels and infrastructure for homes, lodges, parks and cottages, and his business hit the ground running when he invented Sun-Link solar tracker.
Sun-Link, which attaches to the solar panel, tracks the sun’s course to obtain the maximum amount of energy. The device was first launched at Toronto’s Cottage Life Show last spring as part of a distributor’s display. It flew off the shelves, McKay says. McKay hired a student to work for him at the time, and he was run off his feet all summer trying to keep up with demands.
In that year alone the business grew an estimated 27 per cent, and could have grown more had McKay been able to increase his manpower.
The solar tracker will be sold through the wholesale distributors by early summer.
This fall he has plans to open up a new shop to accommodate business expansion and perhaps manufacturing. McKay anticipates an over all growth of 40 per cent for 2004.
