Advisory: Southern Alliance for Clean Energy a stop on the National Solar Tour
Half-a-dozen area homes and businesses to showcase solar energy advances this weekend
Contact: Jennifer Rennicks, SACE, 828-275-0564, jennifer@cleanenergy.org
Asheville, N.C. (October 1, 2014) – This weekend, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) will proudly join neighboring businesses and homes for the Asheville portion of the 19th annual National Solar Tour, the world’s largest grassroots solar event. The event, coordinated by the American Solar Energy Society, is expected to draw 150,000 participants to 5,000 solar-energy sites around the country this year.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the U.S. has grown about three times in just the past two years and North Carolina ranked third, behind only California and Arizona, in terms of PV installations in 2013 by adding 335 megawatts (dc) of solar power.
SACE’s 7.8 kW (dc) dual-axis solar tracker system is one of 52 projects that resulted from Solarize Asheville, a program designed to help homeowners and small businesses join together to collectively lower the cost and speed the ease of solar installations. Solarize Asheville has since evolved into Clean Energy for Western North Carolina, and SACE is a proud partner in this larger program which promotes both solar energy and energy efficiency for a growing number of homeowners and business owners in the region.
“As a nonprofit organization committed to changing the way our region produces and consumes energy, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is proud to demonstrate cutting edge technology like that used in our Asheville solar system, which enables us to harness an energy source that is unlimited, pollution-free, and without fuel costs,” says Dr. Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “We know the public recognizes the benefits of investing in solar energy and we hope this tour inspires people in Western North Carolina, and across the nation, to make sustainable energy choices that reduce costs, support energy independence, protect against power outages, and reduce carbon emissions.”
WHEN: October 4-5
WHERE: SACE’s 7.8 kW (dc) dual-axis solar tracker system can be viewed anytime this weekend behind its offices at 46 Orchard Street in Asheville; other businesses and homes listed on the tour can be accessed here: www.ases.org/solar-tour/find-a-tour/
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Founded in 1985, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization that promotes responsible energy choices that create climate change solutions and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. Learn more at www.cleanenergy.org