Hoping to boost interest in renewable energy, the Illinois Solar Energy Association will hold its annual Solar Tour this Saturday. About 90 homes and businesses across the state will hold open houses, including one in the Quad Cities.
Former high school science teacher, Brian Prybil, did several years of research, and waited for the prices to fall, before he installed solar panels on the roof of his home in Moline three years ago. And he's now saving about 1,000 dollars a year in power bills.
He estimates his system would have cost 25,000 dollars if someone else had installed it. But his labor, and government grants and tax breaks, cut his payback period to less than 10 years.
An un-intended benfit of the solar panels covering his roof is they reflect sunlight, and help keep his home cooler that it would be otherwise.
More than 50 people visited his home last year during the Solar Tour.
A list of central Illinois sites on this year's tour can be found here.