Kentucky Solar Tour Attracts Over 400 Participants!

10/06/2009

Over 400 people turned out on Saturday, October 3rd, to participate in the Kentucky Solar Tour. The Tour was held in six communities across the state and was part of the 14th annual National Solar Tour, sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society. With over 40 sites on the statewide Tour, participants had a chance to visit homes and commercial buildings using solar energy for electricity generation, water heating, and space heating and cooling, along with various other sustainable building practices.

In Berea, Kentucky, over 100 people had a chance to see a Habitat for Humanity home using a solar water heating system, along with an off-grid home whose solar PV system generated 20 kWh on the day of the Tour.

Frankfort’s 60 participants visited a family of six who cut their energy bills by 40% through energy efficiency measures, and then installed a solar water heater to reduce consumption even further. Another site featured the re-use of old barn timbers, roofing metal, and local stone to create a beautiful, hand-crafted home.

Louisville had the highest attendance, with at least 150 people attending educational presentations at The Green Building, and then fanning out across the city to visit the numerous sites on the open-house Tour.

"We were so pleased with the number of people turning out and at their excitement and curiosity,” said Jeff Auxier, a volunteer organizer with the Louisville Solar Tour 2009. “The lectures were standing room only.  The attendees included homeowners, business owners, teachers and government employees.  Solar energy has caught Louisville's attention."

A guided bus tour in Lexington offered 36 people the chance to see six sites using solar energy systems. These included a state-of-the-art solar space heating system, the first of its kind in the United States, utilizing evacuated tube solar collectors and an innovative solar storage tank.

Bowling Green’s Solar Tour included a wide range of solar sites, ranging from a residential scale PV system, to a LEED-certified bank and a 30 KW PV power plant. Bowling Green’s 48 participants also learned about biodiesel fuels and high performance schools.

While Kenton County had only one site on the Solar Tour (a conventional home that’s been retrofitted using passive solar design,  a solar water heater, and includes an off-grid office powered  by solar PV), the eight visitors who came out received an intensive education about solar energy and energy efficiency.

The Kentucky Solar Tour shares a simple message with its participants: Solar energy works. Energy conservation works. Sustainable building practices create better, healthier, energy saving buildings. The knowledge and the technologies are readily available here in Kentucky, as are the sun, the wind, and the water that make it possible.

The Kentucky Solar Tour was organized by local organizations with the support of the Kentucky Solar Partnership, Appalachia - Science in the Public Interest, and the Kentucky Solar Energy Society.

The Kentucky Solar Partnership would like to thank our local tour organizers, including:
BG Green Partnership for a Sustainable Community
Frankfort Climate Action Network
Golfwood Services
John F. Robbins, CEM
Solar Energy Solutions. LLC
Sustainable Berea

And special thanks to the Kentucky Solar Energy Society and the American Solar Energy Society!