LANSING - Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean the sun will stop helping many local residents through their solar energy efficient houses.

Many of those residents are sharing their stories of struggles and triumphs that they endured through the process of transferring to solar energy, during the Lansing Area Solar Home Tour.

“The idea behind the Solar Home Tour has always been for neighbors to share information about their experiences with solar energy,” said John Sarver, Meridian Township Environmental Commission Chair. “Much better to get information from a neighbor rather than a salesperson who obviously wants to sell you something.”

This year, the annual free event will be held virtually on YouTube due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“They were done on Zoom and after the presentation by the solar owner, there is a questions and answer period where typically there’s 20 participants asking a lot of questions,” said Sarver.

After watching the 11 videos, if viewers have more questions, Sarver said he encouraged people to reach out to LeRoy Harvey, Meridian Township Environmental Program Coordinator.

“It’s never too late to think about going solar,” said Sarver.

In order to find the Solar Home Tour videos, residents can do a search for, “Lansing Area Virtual Solar Tour,” on YouTube.

“Solar energy is an action that businesses and homeowners can take that really can make a difference as we deal with the impacts of climate change,” said Sarver. “It’s an investment you can make in your business or home in order to save some money and electric rates keep going up and so you will save even more money in the future.”

The Solar Home Tour videos will be available to be viewed all throughout the month of October.