Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 1 & 2
The 2016 Solar Homes Tour will happen Saturday, October 1st and 2nd. Sponsored nationally by the American Solar Energy Society, the tour showcases homes that are both energy efficient and employ solar technologies that are clean and renewable.
The Blount County Solar Homes Tour in the community of Royal, AL features 5 different solar house designs: underground, straw-bale, dodeca-yurt, clerestory, and a conventional house retrofitted for solar. You will also see solar PV electricity generation, solar water heating, a variety of garden styles and numerous ways you can weave energy efficiency, sustainability, resilient community and permaculture into your own situation.
The tour involves short drives between some sites and about a mile total of walking between others. Four homes are wheelchair accessible and all can be accessed by vehicle for those requiring special assistance.
The Solar Homes Tour is free, but you must register - e-mail to "SolarTourAlabama@gmail.com"
**In Alabama, more than 80% of our water withdrawals annually are used for cooling coal and nuclear power plants, including the discharge of millions of gallons of polluted water each day into our rivers and streams. Photovoltaic solar uses virtually no water and has minimal water quality impacts as compared to fossil fuels.
