On a recent Friday morning, Susan Millar was busy preparing her Madison, Wisconsin, home for an open house. But this wasn’t a real estate showing; instead, Ms. Millar welcomed a dozen curious strangers eager to explore her residence, equipped with a modern heat pump, efficient solar panels, reliable battery storage, and an electric induction stove.
This event offered an early glimpse into “Sun Day,” a nationwide initiative featuring over 450 demonstrations of solar power and renewable energy. Most of these events, taking place across nearly all 50 states, include electric vehicle parades, inspiring church sermons, and informative house tours. They are primarily scheduled for the Sunday before the Autumn solar equinox, with Ms. Millar kicking off the celebrations a bit early.
“You can live in a 90-year-old home like this one without burning anything,” she explained. “Now all those fossil fuels are gone.”
Bill McKibben, the renowned climate activist and writer, conceived the idea for Sun Day several years ago, observing the significant drop in the cost of renewable energy. In the past 15 years, solar power has emerged as the world’s most affordable energy source, with costs plummeting by almost 90 percent, according to data from Our World in Data.
According to Mr. McKibben, solar power has transitioned from being the “Whole Foods of energy — nice but pricey” to the “Costco of power — cheap, available in bulk, and on the shelf ready to go.”
An image shows the back of Ms. Millar’s home in Madison, featuring a vegetable garden and solar panels on its roof on an overcast day. Ms. Millar stated, “You can live in a 90-year-old-home like this one without burning anything.”
Another image depicts Bill McKibben, a journalist, author, and activist, speaking in front of a microphone at a climate rally in Washington in 2023, organized by Third Act, a climate group he co-founded.
This “Sun Day” arrives amidst a backdrop where the current administration and a Republican-controlled Congress have actively sought to dismantle tax credits for electric vehicles, heat pumps, and solar power. The administration has also cut funding for previous programs, such as one designed to make solar energy accessible to low-income households. More recently, efforts have been made to impede the offshore wind industry, including canceling wind farms mid-construction.
Simultaneously, the administration is pushing for increased development and consumption of oil, gas, and coal, which are primary contributors to global warming.
This won’t be America’s first solar celebration. President Jimmy Carter, known for installing 32 solar panels on the White House, inaugurated the original Sun Day on May 3, 1978. (It’s worth noting that President Ronald Reagan later had these solar panels removed.)
In states with Republican leadership, some “Sun Day” organizers aim to showcase widespread community support for clean energy.
Lisa Young, director of the Idaho chapter of the Sierra Club, highlighted the challenges faced by community solar initiatives, which allow multiple residences to share power from a single installation. These projects have encountered resistance from local utilities and a lack of supportive state legislation. Furthermore, Idaho missed out on 56 million dollars in federal grants for solar programs due to cancellations by the Environmental Protection Agency.
An image features Shari Baber, owner and master stylist at Cut-N-Up and Company, in Boise, Idaho.
Mrs. Young’s chapter has coordinated around six events across Idaho for “Sun Day,” including bilingual workshops, an electric car exhibition, and a bicycle rally. One planned event is a celebratory party to launch a crowdfunding effort aimed at installing community solar panels on a hair salon in Boise.
Shari Baber, the salon’s owner, explained that the upfront cost of solar had previously made it seem out of reach for some Black communities in Boise. However, with falling prices and the prospect of significant savings on electricity bills, she hopes her business can inspire others.
Among the more than 80 tours scheduled in the Washington, D.C. area, Natalie Pien will host one at her Virginia home. After installing solar panels 15 years ago, Ms. Pien saw her energy costs plummet from over $150 to approximately $35 per month. Thanks to a utility program that provides credits for the electricity her panels feed back into the grid, she often receives no bill at all during the summer months.
Most states offer similar initiatives, known as net metering, which are crucial for making residential solar appealing. One study revealed that net metering can more than double homeowner demand for solar installations.
A variety of “Sun Day” events are also scheduled in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. In Germany, for example, an event will educate residents on new standards for “balkonkraftwerk”—balcony-mounted solar panels, which are already present in half a million German homes.
In Canada, Joe Ackerman is hosting a “Sun Day” event, though his home itself doesn’t feature solar power. He noted that his Winnipeg house was unsuitable for solar panels due to its orientation and the frequent, heavy snowfall in his area.
However, Dr. Ackerman recently managed to eliminate natural gas for heating his century-old home by improving insulation and utilizing an electric heater and a wood stove.
“There’s no improvement on your house that’s too small,” he emphasized. “Bit by bit, you can get it done.”
An image shows Bobby Monacella, a senior organizer for Mothers Out Front, a climate nonprofit, sitting on a swing. Another image shows Lane Boldman, the director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, in a portrait with glasses and curly graying brown hair.
Beyond residential demonstrations, “Sun Day” will showcase diverse applications of solar. In Kentucky, Lane Boldman, director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, will demonstrate her solar-equipped Winnebago, allowing her to camp entirely off the grid at an event organized by several nonprofits.
Meanwhile, in Fairfax County, Virginia, local schools plan to power a live band and a cotton candy machine by connecting them directly to one of their expanding fleet of electric school buses.
“Every electric school bus we put on the road takes greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and pollution out of their lungs,” remarked Bobby Monacella, who organized the Virginia event for Mothers Out Front, a nonprofit organization. “Every time we get a new electric school bus it feels like a big win.”
Perhaps the most significant “Sun Day” gathering will take place in Portland, Oregon. There, numerous local groups have collaborated to create a grand festival featuring 25 food vendors, a festive parade across a local bridge, performances by Indigenous dancers, and a lively display of giant papier-mâché animal puppets floating above the crowd.
“I really wanted it to be celebratory and uplifting,” expressed Laura Iwanaga, who spearheaded the organization of Portland’s “Sun Day” event for the local chapter of Third Act, a national climate advocacy group founded by Mr. McKibben. “We all know what we’re fighting against but we don’t always think about what we’re fighting for.”