HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – The Rocktown Energy Festival was held Saturday morning at Turner Pavilion in Harrisonburg.
Energy experts were present to answer the communities questions about efficient energy.
“It’s not limited to just solar. There’s also architects and people who focus on energy efficiency, so it’s also about people’s relationships with energy use,” Dustyn Vallies, outreach and development manager at the Center for Advancement and Sustainable Energy said.
Experts for solar, wind and energy efficiency groups from the Shenandoah Valley were in attendance to answer questions and give feedback on how they can dip their toes in renewable energy.
″The main thing I try to get people to understand is you’re gonna be paying for this electricity either way,” Joe Moore, Staunton branch manager for tiger Solar said.
Moore said solar energy has an eventual payback to it that other energies don’t.
“If you’re using electricity you’re either gonna be writing a check to the power company, or you could have the other choice to buy solar. At least with solar eventually it will have paid for itself and you’re making money or saving money rather than constantly spending it for forever,” Moore said.
Recently a few towns in the Valley have had proposed solar projects go in front of planning commissions and councils, but many of them have been denied after pushback from residents and planning commissions.
However, there are younger generations ready to learn and make their own energy.
Saturday a group of students was showing off a solar panel protector they created
“With research, we found that it is durable to stuff like hail, debris, sand and dust,” one of the students said.
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