ASES’ National Solar Tour is on a Roll!

Interest in the National Solar Tour, staged by the American Solar Energy Society every year, has rocketed upward in the last twelve months.  At time of writing, this year’s event will feature well over 600 tours – an amazing increase from last year’s total of less than 250.

The ASES National Solar Tour is the world’s largest grassroots solar event, in which homeowners and businesses invite visitors into their living or working spaces to see how they are using solar and other sustainable technologies.  It’s estimated that more than 160,000 participants will visit some 5,500 buildings in 3,200 communities across the U.S. this year.

Most of the tours will take place on Saturday October 2nd.  You can find details of tours near you here.

Richard Burns, National Solar Tour Director, says: “the ramp-up in interest from tour organizers in recent years is stunning.  This, and the increase in visitors to solar homes on the tours, seem to confirm what we’ve felt at ASES for a long time – that there’s a great thirst in this country for practical information about solar solutions.  People go on solar tours to find out what works and doesn’t work, what systems might cost, what financial help they might get from government bodies, and what cost savings they might enjoy.”

In a significant ‘first’ for the event, there’s even a tour in Mexico this year. Half a dozen buildings in the state of Jalisco will be on view, if you just happen to be ‘down Mexico way’ on October 2.

And that leads directly into a wake-up call!   Currently there are ZERO solar tours in Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.  Now, we happen to know that these states have better insolation than the world’s most prolific solar nation – Germany – so there’s really no excuse for the Solar Tour passing these states by.  If you’re from one of them (or anywhere else!), why not host a tour and let your neighbors see what Solar can do for them?

“The National Solar Tour is the most hands-on, practical way ordinary people have of seeing solar power at work,” says director Burns.  “And this year there’ll be more places than ever where they can see it producing electricity, saving money, and cleaning the environment.”