.... an all-volunteer effort to educate the public about renewable energy and sustainable building options in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Part of the American Solar Energy Society's 9th Annual National Solar Tour, the main event is an "open-house" style tour of over twenty facilities demonstrating use of renewable energy and/or sustainable building practices on Saturday October 2nd, 2004. Many other educational events on related topics are happening locally - some planned independently by other local groups. We will list as many as we are aware of on our "Events" page.

Solar Tour 2004 Washtenaw provides a free avenue for people to learn about how to save energy, reduce pollution and dependence on imported crude oil, and move away from fossil fuel energy sources to renewable energy sources. By visiting homes and buildings in Ann Arbor, Dexter, Milan, Ypsilanti, and Canton areas, people can see examples of solar hot water heaters, electric photovoltaic systems, passive solar design, and energy efficient design in action. Examples will include both basic systems and high-tech state-of-the-art systems. Most sites will be staffed by the homeowner and/or by others who can answer questions about the solar features. Additional elements of this year's tour will include a bicycle tour of sites, solar cookers, free food and a musical performance by a local musician to start the tour. See our "Solar Tour" page for further details of the tour event.

(Similar events are happening all over the United States as a part of the ASES National Solar Tour - a visit to their website http://www.ases.org will help locate other regional tours, and other tours in Michigan can be found on the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association website http://www.glrea.org.)

Who we are ...

Solar Tour 2004 Washtenaw County is organized by the , an ad-hoc group consisting of Gaia Kile (main contact), John Beeson, Michael Hathaway, Chris Coon, Jack VanDyke, Val Jenner, Barry McKay (webmaster), and Brian Beauchamp. Other organizations participating in this education effort include Ann Arbor District Library and the Ypsilanti District Library, each with their own sustainability series of events, and University of Michigan Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library with renewable energy display cases. Other organizations and people contributing to the success of the tour in other ways are listed in the acknowledgements on the "Solar Tour" page.