ALNA — The Climate Action Committee (CAC) of the Town of Alna has announced the addition of a Solar House Tour to compliment the Alna Community Solar Day event planned for Saturday, June 21. The Alna Solar House Tour will feature seven residential solar installations that neighbors can drop by to view from 2 to 4 p.m. A map of participating solar homes will be available during the main Community Solar Day event at the Alna Fire House from 1 to 4 p.m.

“This is a great opportunity to see how local homeowners have made the conversion to solar energy and ask any question at all about what they did and why,” said CAC member Al Monaco, whose home will be on the tour.

CAC member Scott Budde, who will also be available at the Fire House event to provide detailed information about the residential system they installed, said “I know a lot more now about the benefits of solar than I did before our conversion.  We used the solar installation as an opportunity to go fully electric for all our heating, cooling, transportation and cooking,” adding, "I’m glad to discuss my experience with anyone who is thinking about going solar."

In addition to learning more about how clean energy resources are being used around the community, Alna residents are invited to meet the crew at Maine Solar Solutions, who installed Alna’s Fire House system, and watch a demonstration of how drones are used to help site rooftop arrays for optimal efficiency.

There will also be hands-on demonstrations of Alna’s new emergency backup portable power stations as well as information on how both the Alna Food Pantry and Community Garden benefit from solar power!

The Town of Alna’s full municipal transition to solar power and the purchase of 5 portable, safe, clean, high- capacity lending batteries was made possible by a $44,000 Community Action Grant awarded to Alna by the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) through its Community Resilience Partnership program.

Initial press release

ALNA — The Climate Action Committee of the Town of Alna announced an Alna Community Solar Day to celebrate the successful completion of the town’s solar transition project, learn more about how the new solar system works, and see demonstrations about the town’s proposed new Battery Lending Program.

All Alna residents are invited to drop by the Fire House on Saturday, June 21, from 1 to 4 p.m., to view the new solar system’s integrated components and learn about other ways clean energy resources are being used around the community. There will also be hands-on demonstrations of Alna’s new emergency backup portable power stations as well as information on how both the Alna Food Pantry and Community Garden benefit from solar power.

“The firehouse roof is the perfect location for our town’s new solar arrays," said Alna Fire Chief Mike Trask, in a Climate Action Committee, news release. "And because the station is already the best gathering place for Alna residents, we hope to see a good turn-out for Alna Community Solar Day.”

Alna’s full transition of all municipal buildings to solar power was completed on December 30 last year and is projected to eliminate 189,000 lb of carbon emissions annually, with a savings of $4,000 a year for the community. The solar panels and batteries were paid for by a Community Action Grant awarded to Alna by the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) through its Community Resilience Partnership program. The Battery Lending Program portion of the grant includes 5 portable, fire-safe, non- toxic, high-capacity batteries that can be used indoors during emergency situations to power personal devices, appliances and emergency equipment.

“Alna’s 2024 solar conversion grant proposal was extremely competitive, receiving the highest overall score of any town in the state, something we all are very proud of,” said CAC member Scott Budde.

Alna Pantry volunteer and CAC member Sherry Lyons added, “This is a great step forward for Alna and we’re excited to set aside some time to celebrate our achievement,” commenting further, “Alna residents should stop by!”