4th Annual Clallam County Solar Tour

9/16/2009

Clallam County PUD to Host 4th Annual Clallam County Solar Tour, Saturday, 10/3/09

(Port Angeles, WA) – Clallam County PUD #1 today announced the 4th Annual Clallam County Solar Tour will take place Saturday, October 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in conjunction with the 14th Annual National Solar Tour sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society. An estimated150,000 people will attend nationwide.

The starting point for the tour is Sequim High School at 601 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim, which features a pole-mounted solar system of its own. This year’s tour has two components: self-drive solar installation site visits (20 sites in all) from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, and 75-minute Getting Started with Solar workshops at 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm at the Sequim High School cafeteria. PUD Conservation Department staff and their solar-powered House-on-Wheels will be on-hand at Sequim High providing tour-goers with comprehensive packets of information about the tour, including a primer Going Solar on the Olympic Peninsula, descriptions of available PUD and federal energy efficiency incentives, low interest loan programs, individual tour sites, and maps to locate them.

“Moving the tour starting point to Sequim High this year offers a variety of advantages,” said Clallam County Solar Tour Coordinator, Shoshanah Wright. “It not only offers greater accessibility, but also room enough to hold solar workshops and the opportunity for our local solar contractors, and weatherization/heating incentive program participating installers to meet with our mutual customers on-site.” Wright added, “the Clallam County Solar Tour provides Peninsula home and business owners with unique opportunities to view the wide array of solar energy solutions available; engage in casual, though informative, face-to-face discussions with solar installation owners, installers, energy efficiency and financing experts; and to take informed, proactive steps on their solar journeys.”

The self-drive site-visit portion of the tour features a wide-variety of on-grid and off-grid solar-installations and energy efficiency measures. They include solar tracking arrays, back-up power batteries, solar water heating, passive solar design, alternative building materials and innovative designs, rainwater catchment systems, energy efficient appliances and weatherization measures, and a ground-source heat pump. While the majority of tour sites will be staffed by knowledgeable and enthusiastic solar system owners who are happy to share their solar insights and experiences with Tour-goers, a few tour sites are “Drive-by Only,” at the owners’ request, and viewable from a discreet distance.

The Getting Started with Solar workshops will feature local experts in solar design, energy efficiency and project financing, with representatives from Clallam County PUD, Power Trip Energy, Olympic Energy Systems and First Federal. These information-packed sessions will provide an overview of the benefits of solar power, an introduction to solar installation projects, the variety of renewable energy and weatherization incentives available, the critical importance of installing energy efficiency measures, federal energy efficiency tax credits, Clallam County PUD’s low-interest loan program and a Q&A session. In order to ensure enough seats and materials for everyone in attendance at the workshops, those interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP by noon, Friday, Oct. 2, by calling: (360) 565-3579 or (800) 542-7859 x579, or by emailing solartour@clallampud.net.

“With the variety of incentive programs available now, the economics of maximizing home energy efficiency and going solar are better than they’ve ever been -- not only for homeowners, but also for businesses, school

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