Solar Home Tour and Expo to be held Oct. 14

The fifth annual Solar Home Tour and Expo will be held from 9 a.m-2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14.

"Nevada is one of the best places to utilize the power of the sun's energy due to our availability of sunshine," said Dr. Kurt White, a member of SunRise Sustainable Resources, a local, nonprofit organization. "Las Vegas has sunshine and clear skies 100 percent of the time and Reno has the same conditions for 80-85 percent of the time. In comparison, Wisconsin only gets 10 percent."

"Renewable energy sources are the wave of the future and we are here to show people how simple, easy and inexpensive it is to build and live in an energy-efficient home utilizing straw bale, solar and/or wind-power," says Betsy Gledhill, organizer of the tour sponsored by SunRise.

Six Western Nevada homes will be showcased that feature a variety of alternative energy and environmentally-friendly building practices. Following the tour, the public is invited to visit Patagonia Service Center to see their passive/active solar building, permaculture garden and to attend a symposium on "green" building techniques.

Marion Barritt, a newsletter editor for SunRise, who lives in Gardnerville, and is a net metering customer, spent a total of $83 for her fuel bill last year.

Tickets for the tour can be purchased at Sundance Bookstore, Wild Oats market and Java Joe's in Carson City.

For information, call Gledhill at 475-2609.