Solar Fest shines light on sun's power

Despite a cloudy sky for part of the day, the 10th annual Solar Fest went on as planned Saturday, highlighting everything from panels that gather sunlight to toilets that handle waste with it.

Five bands played on a solar-powered stage, while visitors toured the 90 booths that fill Maverick Parknear downtown, peddling all manner of solar-powered or green technology. Kids played in giant hamster balls and adults lined up for free tree seedlings. The food booths cooked over open fires.

And, as if to highlight the theme of the day, the entire event was off the grid, meaning it was powered by solar panels and a bio-diesel generator that used soy-based fuel.

To make it even greener, smart-phone users could scan a bar code, printed on posters at the entrances, to download a site map to their device, thus reducing the need and expense of printing paper maps.

But the big deal was the sun.

More San Antonio businesses and homes are adopting solar power every year, said Lanny Sinkin, executive director of Solar San Antonio, an advocacy group trying to shine a light on the technology.

In 2007, when solar rebates were first offered locally, Sinkin said, seven were awarded.

In 2008, there were 15. By 2009, 38 were awarded. Last year, Sinkin said, 150 were awarded and another 150 rebate requests are on a waiting list.

The biggest solar panel user on site was the stage, which gathered sunlight in the roof and stored it in batteries below the stage.

Cody Murray of Sustainable Waves, which owns the stage and five others just like it, said the concept is simpler, cheaper and better than hooking up to a noisy generator, burning diesel fuel, and stringing miles of cable to make it all work.

“We try to localize as much a possible,” he said.

Also on hand was Southwest Septic, an Elgin-based company that sells the EnviroLoo, a solar-heated toilet that evaporates liquid waste and bakes solid waste.

The device doesn't use solar panels. Instead, the black plastic casing of the 8-foot-tall, 7-foot-long device simply heats up in the sunlight. After a few weeks, said company representative Jeri Witta, the owner simply rakes away the desiccated material.

“Forty percent of the water that comes into a house is flushed away,” she said. “You can use the sun to save water and save money.”

Vendors were on hand to explain the various technologies on display. CPS Energy had staff in place to explain rebates and federal tax credits for installing solar panels. And there were lenders on hand to help home and business owners get loans to pay for the new technology.

“The idea is to make it easier for people to go solar,” said Christine Chapa, a Solar San Antonio spokeswoman. “It's meant to be a one-stop shop for everything solar.”