The Solar Sonoma County program, which got its official kick-off last night, may make our area a model for other rural regions that want to expand their use of solar power.

Click here to see a detailed 2-page fact sheet on Solar Sonoma County. (pdf)

John Lushetsky from the federal Department of Energy, where he is the manager of the Solar Energy Technologies Program. As more and more solar panels collect electricity, there will be increasing demand for batteries to store and save that power. John Lushetshy says his agency will soon turn its attention to that aspect of energy independence as well.

Ives Pool in Sebastopol is an example of a local public facility that has installed solar panels to hold down energy costs.