City Tour for Solar was in San Antonio, Texas, this past weekend and the annual LiveGreenFest. Thousands of locals gathered at Olmos Basin Park to be part of San Antonio’s “green scene.”

The City Tour for Solar mobile PV solar event allowed visitors to see and touch solar materials and learn solar facts.

The green scene features included:

• Earth friendly products

• Energy efficiency rebate information

• Arts and crafts from recycled materials

• Eco-art activities

• Free trees!

Go to the City Tour for Solar for the tour schedule. Maybe it’s coming to a town near you!

Solar panels at the old Pearl Brewery, San Antonio, Texas

The National Solar Tour held this weekend encouraged my resolve to use solar energy for our home. My husband and I toured several homes and businesses in the San Antonio area that incorporate solar energy.

Our thanks and appreciation goes to the generous homeowners and businesses that allowed us to trek through their yards and business spaces to view their solar energy systems.

Some homes used strictly solar PV panels. Others used solar PV panels in conjunction with a solar hot water system. Still other homes used solar PV panels with other solar technology such as solar attic fans and sun tunnels. Solar energy is not a one-size-fits-all system.

I gained a greater appreciation for the many variables going into planning a solar energy system for a home or business. Each site used solar technology that made sense for that particular site. Basic variables include how many KW of solar energy is needed, sunlight availability, and pitch of the roof.

Reputable companies work closely with homeowners to design a home solar energy system that is best for their particular home. Along the tour, we met representatives and saw PV arrays from Meridian Energy Systems, The Power Store in San Antonio (210.695.8990), and Ecowatt Design.

It was heartening to see and meet other solar energy fans out touring with us. People care about the rising cost of energy but more importantly, they care about leaving their world better. Solar energy has captured our imaginations and there’s no going back.

The comments of one couple we met sum up the attitudes of the people we met on this tour. This couple wants to add solar energy to their home. They plan to sell the home in a couple years so they won’t realize a “pay back” on the system. Yet they say “it’s the right thing to do.” When they leave that house for another, “that will be one more” solar powered home available on the planet.

God bless them!