This Saturday, I was invited to help install solar panels in Harrisonburg, Virginia with a clean energy company, Secure Futures. And what fun it was! I couldn't help but think...with a technology so easy (and fun) to install, affordable, and fossil fuel free, why aren't more roofs converting to photovoltaics??

Secure Futures is hard at work making solar energy a big-scale reality by helping Eastern Mennonite University and Harrisonburg become state leaders in the clean energy movement by installing panels on EMU's campus and around the city.

EMU's library roof has over 300 panels that generate 141 MW hours of solar energy for campus--that's about 3% of the entire campus energy usage (pictured). And these panels are just the begining-- Hugh Stoll, the technology officer for Secure Futures, talked about big plans EMU and Harrisonburg have to be the solar capital of Virginia.

And for the small Mennonite college in Virginia, solar panels are just the beginning. A group of students, faculty, and staff met on Saturday afternoon to discuss the prospects of shifting EMU's endowment away from fossil fuels and taking the step to join the National divestment efforts.

More to come from EMU- but stay tuned! The dedication to environmental justice, enthusiasm, and clean energy foundation of the school will surely bring some exciting updates in the months to come!