On Saturday, October 2, 2010, Minnesota residents around the state will join more than a 150,000 people across the U.S. in touring more than 5,000 homes, businesses, and schools to learn about renewable energy and energy efficiency and participating in the 15th annual American Solar Energy Society's (ASES) National Solar Tour.
The Minnesota Solar Tour is sponsored by the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES), the local chapter of ASES.
"Last year more than 50 sites participated in the Minnesota Solar Tour, hosted by MRES, with over 2,000 visitors, and this year we expect even more participants," said Doug Shoemaker, MRES Events Chair. "Solar Tour participants will open up their homes and businesses for the public to see how solar energy and other forms of renewable energy can be used to 1) drastically reduce monthly energy bills, 2) reduce harmful carbon emissions, and 3) enjoy rich tax credits and cash incentives as they 4) improve their property values."
The free self-guided Minnesota Solar Tour is a series of open houses featuring more than 50 solar-powered homes, businesses, and organizations in the Twin Cities and many other Minnesota communities which have incorporated solar thermal, solar photovoltaic (PV), and passive solar, as well as alternative energy technologies like geothermal heat pumps and wind turbines.
Details on the participating sites, pictures, and state/metro maps of the locations can now be found at www.MNSolarTour.org .
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Some highlighted tour sites include a farm in SE Minnesota which incorporates small scale wind, solar electric, solar hot water, and solar hot air in order to make it almost entirely self sufficient, the 400 KW array at St. John's Abbey and University which is currently the largest solar electric installation in Minnesota, and a home in the Metro area developed by an architect to use a combination of passive solar, a living roof, solar hot water, and solar PV in order to live almost entirely off the grid.
These are just some of the interesting people and sites that will be available to engage the Minnesota public in a discussion about renewable energy in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society is a member-run, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in Minneapolis in 1978 to promote the use of and advocacy for renewable energies in Minnesota through education and demonstration of practical applications. The Society is involved with education, awareness, and advocacy efforts for all forms of renewable energy technologies, with a particular emphasis on solar energy technologies.
MRES and the Minnesota Solar Home Tour, go to www.mnRenewables.org .
