The Great ClausConversion

 

Twas the night before Christmas

And unbeknownst to the kids…

Santa’s Village

Was living off-grid!

 

 

It was Christmas Eve and the Great Santa Claus Conversion of 2022 was complete. The Elves, who had the night off, were already down at the Present Pub, imbibing in pints of eggnog. The reindeer were reserving their energy, nestled, all snug in their beds under electric heating blankets, while visions of sugar cookies swarmed in their heads.

 

Santa took a beat to revel in all the candy-cane-erific accomplishments of the past year. They had done it. They had converted the entire village to off-grid living. Battery banks, Samlex EVO™ Inverter/Chargers, solar power systems…oh my!

 

And the star on the top of the tree? Santa had himself a shiny, new souped-up sleigh.

 

It was off-grid living at its finest and it hadn’t even been that ho-ho-hard.

 

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE CLAUS CONVERSION

 

When Santa heard about the escalating climate crisis from neighboring polar bears and narwhals, his mind naturally went to the Naughty List.

 

“The reckless overuse of fossil fuels? Very naughty, indeed. Look at how many people are on this list! It’s absolutely nutcrackers!” And then he saw it…

 

At the very end of the Naughty List, in thick, black letters, was the name: SANTA.

 

“I suppose the workshop, as the biggest mass producer of toys on the planet, is leaving a bit of a carbon footprint. Well, this stops now!” Santa declared. “Let’s go off the grid! It’s time to step up and do our part!” And so, Santa came up with a plan.

 

The elves had questions, of course.

 

How would they power the village? What would they do during a storm? How would they communicate? How would they stay warm? And what about the sugar cookies? Reindeer are fiends for sugar cookies. How would they bake them? And Elf laundry? How would they wash it? How would they charge their laptops so they could play Candy Cane Crush?

 

“Whoa whoa. Ho-ho,” Santa assured everyone. He’d done his research. He had the answers. He’d made a list of everything. And he’d checked it twice.

 

 

THE SANTA CLAUS CONVERSION

First up – power! Winter in the Arctic Circle is dark. But summer is not! With 24 hours of sunshine, they could install a state-of-the-art solar system and battery bank to soak up all that solar energy goodness during the summer months. Add a couple wind turbines and they could power everything all winter, including the workshop.

 

Power? Check. Solar energy to the rescue.

Next up was the daily necessities. They needed an all-in-one off grid inverter solution. And a Samlex Split Phase Inverter/Charger fit the bill perfectly. It could power all their 120-volt electronics, like their laptops, toy-making tools, and copious amounts of Christmas Lights. Plus, it could power their 240-volt appliances, so there would be no shortage of sugar cookies and the Elves could don clean boxers every day.

 

Daily necessities? Check. The Samlex EVO-4248SP Inverter/Charger had it covered.

 

Communication. Now, truth be told, the internet is spotty in the North Pole. The Elves cells drop more calls than balls in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. 2-way radios were the perfect solution. No need for internet or cell service. So, they got themselves their Amateur Radio Licenses and learned all about HAM radio. They could tap into Amateur bands pretty much anywhere in the world, so communication would be easy, peasy, shortbread squeezy. And with the help of the Samlex SEC-1235M power supply, Santa and the Elves could rely on their 2-way radios to keep the lines of communication open and flowing.

 

Communication? Check. They became HAM radio pros to contact Santa through static and snow.

 

That only left…

 

Santa turned to his sleigh and said, with a twinkle in his eye:

 

“Honestly, this ole sleigh’s a piece of junk. Time to modify!”

SANTA’S SOUPED-UP SLEIGH

Santa figured that, since everything else was being converted, why not soup up the sleigh? On the one strand of tinsel, the old sleigh had served him well. But on the other strand, didn’t he deserve a few perks?

 

Reindeer power couldn’t be beat for aerodynamics and speed, but Santa’s old sleigh was about 100 years behind on technology. With the addition of a Samlex PST-2000-12 Power Inverter and lithium battery bank (lithium batteries being the perfect choice since they’re nice and light weight), he could really open this baby up. More power. Modern luxuries. Reliability. His Christmas Wishlist come true!

 

And while he was at it…

 

Portable flood lights for those dark roof-top landings. A touch screen GPS navigation system was an absolute must. To think he’d been using paper maps all these years! Starlink Internet for in-motion use. Plus, since his Elves were all HAM operators now, they could easily communicate with him throughout the ‘big night’ via 2-way radio.

 

And Oh. My. Garland. The slew of sleigh accessories. Heated reigns. A portable massager for lumbar relief. A Nespresso coffee machine for on-demand mochas. Surround Sound Speakers and strobing LED lights. He had to fly around the world, so why not fly in style?

 

Look out 2022 because…

 

Here. Comes. Santa Claus.

 

Yes, it had all been worth it. Everyone was happy and Santa’s name was no longer on the Naughty List. So, Santa hopped into his souped-up sleigh and away from his off-grid village.

 

With a peppermint mocha in hand he flew into the night,

Admiring the glow of his solar-powered Christmas lights.

 

Contest Now Closed

Thanks to everyone for entering, happy holidays!

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