Page 24 RAIN June 1977 SOLAR STORES: Job of the Month We uere planning to feature solar stores as tbis montb's Job of tbe Montb, tben saw tbat Helene Kassler, tbe new "Sunspot" editor for Not Man Apart had done a good listing of solar stores in last montb's issue, so asked if we could reprint it. Sunspot is a aery useful, information-packed addition to tbe always excellent NMA. SzEscriptions are $10/ yr. (twice montbly) from Friends of tbe Eartb, 124 Spear Street, San Francisco, cA 9410s. Shoppers can find the closest thing to an alternative energy supermarket in Santa Cruz, California, at Solar Access, 320-1 Cedar Street. They have a variety of products to choose from, books, complete solar systems, components, conservation devices (energy and water), and do-it-yourself plans. But Solar Access is not only a place for buying; it is a place for seeing the alternatives at work-many of the products are used in the store. The building is solar heated with a south-facing glass door, an attached greenhouse and several insulating products to collect, store and circulate solar energy. On the East Coast, sun shopping leads you to The Sky Is Falling in Washington, DC. This store offers books, appliances, systems, components- just about all you need. It has everything for do-it-yourselfers, or the people there will do it for you. Check them out at 1200 9th Street, N.W., Washington, DC. There are many other solar stores that sell a variety of products one or several manufacturers' goods. The following stores offer three or more brands of equipment. Sun Store, 427 Wade Hampton Boulevard, Greenville, South Carolina 29609 GO3) 242-19O2; Mountain Mechanical Inc., 527O Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80216, (3O3) 5343000; Benz Enterprises, 7105 Panorama Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20855, (301) 948-8920. If you live too far from a solar store, you might follow the example of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) employees, who forme d their own Alternate Consumer Energy Society (ACES). By joining together and making bulk purchases from distributors and manufacrurers, they receive hefty discounts on products like solar panels, insulation, etc. Although many of their members work at JPL (part of California Institute of Technology in Pasadena), ACES is open to the public for a very small membership fee. In addition, ACES arranged for Cal Tech's credit union to offer low-interest loans for soiar equipment. If you are interested in more information about ACES, contact Gilbert Herrera at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103, (213) 354278I. And if none of the aforementioned shopping ideas suit you, there is even a solar mail-in catalog. Just send $2.00 to SUN (Solar Usage Now), Box 306, 450 E. Tiffin Street, Bascom, OH +4809, for their 1977 catalog with more than 100 solar and conservation devicesand a 24-page description and explanation of solar heating to boot! Not only does SUN offer the usual products (systems, compone nts, kits, insulation), but they also sell the wild and wacky-solar cigarette lighters, a solar watch, and a sun blanket for a glorious tan all year'round. This list does not even attempt to cover the hundreds of manufacturers and distributors who sell their own products directly to you. For a list of those near you, try the toll-free National Solar Heating and Cooling Information Center (8OO) 523-2929, or in Pennsylvania, (8OO) 462-4983. Whatever you want in a solar product, it probably can be found somewhere among the solar shopPing oPtions' .D-D., Many of the above stores might help you on a consulting basis to set up a store in your community. The SUN Catalog (above) ; Specnum, Alternative Sources of Energy's equipment catalog ($2 from ASE, Route 2, Box 90-A, Milaca, MN 56353); ERDA's Catalog of Solar Energlt Heating and Cooling Products, free from ERDA Technical Information Center, P.O. Box 62, Oak Ridge, TN 3783O;the Solar Energ5t Index, $8 from the Solar Energy Industries Association, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036 (see review this issue); and various solar periodicals such as Solar Engineering Magazine (free to "professionals"), 8435 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 880, Dallas, ^tX 7 52+7, can connect you up with manufacturers and equipment suppliers. In the Northwest, a new solar store, SYNERGV, is opening (Rt. 1, Box 773P, Salem, OR 97304) and will have a mail order catalog available soon. In addition to equipment, you'll need someone who can evaluate and design for individual situations and someone who can install the systems competently. The solar stores we know about are going great guns and doing a lot to share how to live lightly as well as selling solar hardware . -TB ^s 1 *-.\:j1 // a-__,-_ --,/,2 RAIN 2270 N.W. Irving Portland, OR 97210 Foruarding and Return Postage Gudranteed Non-Piofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1890 Portland, OR a
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