Curious about solar energy? Check out suburban sites Saturday

If you've wondered what it's like to install and use solar panels on your property, you can get answers Saturday from people who have experienced that firsthand.

The Illinois Solar Tour, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is self-guided free tour across 93 sites statewide — mostly private homes, but also businesses and churches — showcasing the use of solar, wind and geothermal energy. There are nearly 20 locations in the Northwest suburbs, including Elgin, Batavia, Palatine, Deer Park, Naperville and West Chicago. For a complete list, visit illinoissolartour.org.

People can learn how renewable energy lowers monthly utility bills and reduces carbon emissions, and how to use available tax credits and financial incentives, said Lesley McCain, executive director of the nonprofit Illinois Solar Energy Association, which is sponsoring the tour.

Tour host Peter Gorr of Palatine said his 28 solar panels, which he installed about four years ago, are working better than promised by generating 80 to 90 percent of the electricity for his home.

“I flipped the switch and watched my meter go backward — literally,” he said. “At the time I had a dial meter, and it just slowed down and then started going backward,” he said.

Installing solar panels requires an upfront expense, but it's worth it in the long run, Gorr said. He paid about $20,000 after tax rebates and incentives, but prices have come down by as much as 40 percent, he added. “It is cool — and the benefits have been great.”

The Unitarian Universalist Church in Elgin, also a tour host, installed its solar panels in 2012 and has saved about $5,000 in electricity bills so far, said church board President Jun Yoshitani. The church also applied for solar renewable energy credits, which will further increase savings, he said.

“It's been really very good, in terms of proving savings for church,” he said.

Yoshitani said there's a misconception that solar energy is only for places like California. “We have plenty of sun,” he said. “It's kind of a myth that people think we don't have enough sun to make solar power work.”

This is the 15th edition of the Illinois Solar Tour, and it's especially important because of the effort to push for the Illinois Clean Jobs Bill, McCain said. Illinois' energy policy lags behind Colorado, California, New York and Massachusetts, she said.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg, these homeowners and businesses (in Saturday's tour),” she said. “If we could have good, renewable energy policies in our state, we could enjoy all the economic benefits that other states are enjoying.”