The 2012 National Solar Tour, which took place in October, marked the start of ASES’ Annual National Solar Sweepstakes! Over 1300 people entered, with only five lucky winners being selected. Solar Tour attendees and interested ASES’ fans were asked to enter in the National Solar Sweepstakes for the chance to win one of the following:

1. $2500 to the home improvement store of your choice
2. $1000 to the home improvement store of your choice
3. Goal Zero Portable Solar Charging Kit (3 were chosen)

The National Solar Sweepstakes grand prize winner, C.J. Colavita from Maryland remarked:

Wow! What a great surprise. Thank you so much. My family and I are so excited!”

Photo Credit: Molly Aguilar. Second place winner, Randy Swartz, with his family

Second place winner, Randy Swartz from West Virginia, also showed the same excitement. Randy spoke with ASES shortly after winning to explain what he plans to do with the $1000 prize he has received to Loews. Randy has been involved in the renewable energy field for years due to his company, Home Efficiency Solutions, LLC, which specializes in home energy audits. After winning, Randy showed his enthusiasm by saying:

That’s awesome!!! I’m so excited. This will come in handy, as we are in the middle of renovating our home due to water damage. Thank you SO much!!!”

The three third place winners were: Doug Jones from Minnesota; Matt Schneider from Washington; and Roy Burris from Arizona. All three third place winners were very excited to learn about their winnings especially because of their interest in solar. Now, they all have portable solar panels that they can use to charge up their cell phones, laptops, and whatever else they carry around with them.

Learn about the National Solar Tour here!

Crossville, TN

“Roughed It out doors with the few that did showed up. Toured a few more sites. Then close the day at my house with hot chocolate, coffee, and warm danish.  Finished our solar discussion and jumped in to home energy tips.  All in all it was a great day for those that did show.” - Theodore Polczynski, Tour organizer

Ypsilanti, MI

“This year’s event, which is part of the National Solar Tour, consisted of eight new solar installations, bringing the total number to 10. Dave Strenski, event organizer, said attendance was nearly the same as last year’s inaugural event. Strenski was at the Ypsilanti City Hall, one of the stops, where he spoke to people about solar energy. city hall has 12 solar panels installed in 2010 by volunteers.” – Amy Bell, The Ypsilanti Courier, Ypsilanti: Solar Tour featured stops throughout the city

Berea, KY

Solar tour from shelly slocum on Vimeo.

Richard Olson, Tour Organizer

Denver, CO

On September 29, 2012, the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) held their tour in Denver. CRES’ Executive Director, Lorrie McAllister, and ASES’ President, Susan Greene, teamed up and went to view some of the great houses on the 2012 Denver Area Sustainable Living Tour together!

The GBOH is the largest sustainable energy event in the northeastern U.S., showcasing homes, businesses and public buildings. The tour is founded on the basic philosophy that “seeing is believing.” Last year, more than 11,000 people participated in the tour and the outcome was impressive. After seeing these features in action, they left inspired, more informed, and more likely to adopt these measures themselves.

Here’s how you and your members can benefit from the event:

1)      Your members considering solar, wind, or geothermal systems or energy efficiency measures can visit a local host site or view online profiles on the virtual tour. They can locate the properties near them here on EnergySage.com, simply by entering their zip code.

2)      Your members who already have solar, wind, or geothermal or energy efficient properties are in a unique position to help encourage others to make the same choice. These members can participate in either of two ways. They can sign up to be a host on the tour or they can share their experience online by submitting a profile of their project for the virtual tour. Instructions for both options can be found here on EnergySage.com.

3)      Any project profiles submitted by your members will remain online, accessible by zip code. This means that you will be able to link to this collection of profiles even after the tour to use as examples of how clean energy and energy efficiency measures are working.  This can be a valuable resource to make a compelling case for adopting these measures.

NESEA To Host Green Building Open House Oct. 13^th

The age-old adage, “seeing is believing” is certainly true when it comes to convincing people to install solar, wind, geothermal systems and make energy efficiency improvements.  When people see these technologies for themselves, it goes a long way toward making them comfortable enough to implement them at their own properties.

Case in point, the 2012 Green Building Open House Tour (GBOH) hosted by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) in partnership with EnergySage.  The GBOH is the largest sustainable energy event in the northeastern U.S., showcasing homes, businesses and public buildings with clean energy systems, and energy efficient designs, systems and products. Last year, more than 11,000 people toured more than 500 properties in the Northeast to see firsthand the sustainability improvements happening in their communities.

The 2012 Tour will take place on Saturday, October 13^th featuring properties in ten northeastern states from Maine to Delaware. People interested in learning more about these energy improvements in a real-life setting, can visit the host properties in their area, or just review the profiles online in the corresponding virtual tour hosted here on EnergySage.com.

Home and business owners who’ve already installed a clean energy system or made efficiency upgrades to their properties can share their experiences and results with others by serving as a host property on the tour and/or by creating a project profile for the virtual tour. Instructions for both options can be found here on EnergySage.com.  The profiles serve a vital purpose, dispelling misconceptions about everything from aesthetics to cost and benefits and helping to convince people about the suitability of these technologies in a variety of settings.

The GBOH tour is focused on bringing sustainable energy into the mainstream.  Tour participants get to see these systems in action and learn from their peers who have successfully implemented renewable solutions. They leave the tour feeling inspired, better informed, and more likely to start using these technologies themselves.

Helenowski Residence, Illinois Solar Tour 2011

Chicago IL, September 14, 2012 Brighten your day with Solar! View renewable energy systems in action. The Illinois Solar Tour is a FREE self‐guided, statewide open house that demonstrates how Illinois homes and businesses are using solar, wind, and geothermal to become energy independent.

Home and business owners with renewable energy installations will be providing tours on Saturday, October 6th from 10 am to 3 pm. Tour hosts will answer questions on how you can harness the power of the sun and wind to fuel your home and business. Learn how you can reduce your monthly utility bills, increase property values, and be part of the energy solution.

Business owners will be interested to see how businesses have reduced their bottom line. Visit a solarpowered airport, a car wash that pays nothing for its hot water, and a farm that harvests the sun andwind along with its crops.

With over 70 sites throughout the state, there is a Solar Tour host site near you. Stop in to see howsolar energy can brighten your day!

To register for this free event and enter to win a solar cell phone charger visit www.illinoissolartour.org.

About the Illinois Solar Energy Association

Established in 1975 The Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA) is a non‐profit organization that promotes the widespread application of renewable energy through education and advocacy. As the Illinois chapter of the American Solar Energy Society, ISEA is the local resource for educational classes, events, renewable energy related policy developments, local news and access to local renewable energy vendors. For more information about the Illinois Solar Tour, please visit www.illinoissolartour.org.

About the American Solar Energy Society

For more than 50 years the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) has been leading the renewable energy revolution to advance the use of solar and renewable energy. ASES leads national efforts to promote solar energy education, public outreach, and advocacy. www.ases.org. The ASES National Solar Tour is the world’s largest grassroots solar event. More than 160,000 participants will visit some 5,500 buildings in 3,200 communities across the U.S. The event takes place annually during the first Saturday in October, in conjunction with National Energy Awareness Month. The National Solar Tour is expected to run in all 50 states this year. A complete list of scheduled events may be found at

www.NationalSolarTour.org.

For more information contact: Lesley McCain @Lesley.mccain@illinoissolar.org 847‐924 ‐7359

What: Solar Tour: Orangetown Mighty Midgets Athletic Association host stop on the National Solar Tour

Contact: Real Goods Solar Marketing Manager Kathleen Troy Maier at 845-548-4673

Website for event: http://realgoodssolar.com/venue/mighty-midget-athletic-fields/

Orangetown NY’s  Mighty Midget Athletic Fields is hosting this year’s 17th annual National Solar Tour, Sunday October 7th 9:00am-2:00pm.  Stop by to speak with solar experts to learn more about solar power.  It is the world’s largest grassroots solar event, with expected participation of over 150,000 people in 49 states.

The 11.87KW solar electric system on the soccer fields’ clubhouse offsets about 45% of the electrical needs of the facility on a yearly basis.  The clubhouse also sports an environmental learning station that includes a flat screen monitor that displays the solar array’s energy output in real time and the county’s only solar powered score board.

Real Goods Solar joins the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and hundreds of solar-savvy installers and grassroots organizations throughout America to showcase more than 5,000 solar-powered homes, schools and businesses ―  in Rockland and across North America — for the 17th Annual National Solar Tour, the world’s largest grassroots solar event.

The event,  slated for October 6th, showcases the solar technologies your neighbors are using to 1) drastically reduce monthly energy bills, 2) reduce harmful carbon emissions, and 3) enjoy rich tax credits and cash incentives as they improve their property values.

Orangetown Mighty Midgets Athletic Association

175 Old Orangeburg Road

Orangeburg, NY 10962

Now in its 17^th year, the National Solar Tour features thousands of solar-equipped homes and small businesses across the country.  Owners open their doors to demonstrate the benefits of going solar, with practical, affordable technology available now.

Plan to attend, and bring your friends!

Find a tour near you and download the new Tour Guide, at nationalsolartour.org. While you’re there, enter the Solar Tour Sweepstakes for a chance to win home-efficiency products at a home-improvement store near you!

 Caption: Susan Greene (left), president of the American Solar Energy Society, and Lorrie McAllister (center), executive director of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society, monitor the energy savings in a Denver-area home. Guiding them is Laurent Meillon, director of Capitol Solar Energy, who designed and installed the solar water-heating system.  ASES photo.

Support ASES now by donating to the Tour! Your donation will help us to expand this important outreach program in years to come. And your contribution is matched dollar for dollar by a generous donor. Donate now at causes.com/ases to keep the nation’s largest solar event growing!

Caption: Lorrie McAllister (left), executive director of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society, and Susan Green,  president of the American Solar Energy Society, inspected the solar water heating system owned by Leigh and Diana Bray (right) of Englewood, Colo. ASES photo.

Leading for more than 50 years: Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation’s leading association of solar professionals & advocates. Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy. We advance education, research and policy. ASES leads national efforts to increase the use of solar energy, energy efficiency and other sustainable technologies in the U.S. We publish the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, organize and present the ASES National Solar Conference and lead the ASES National Solar Tour — the largest grassroots solar event in the world. ASES is the U.S. section of the International Solar Energy Society.

Contact Seth Masia  smasia@solartoday.org 303.443.3130