The Hampton Roads Solar Tour in Virginia held this past Saturday and Sunday blew away expectations. With roughly 500 attendees, the event was a major success.

The event was held as part of the American Solar Energy Society’s ASES National Solar Tour, a series of more than 700 tours and events being held across the nation from late September to early October. The tours are held to showcase solar technologies, allowing people hands-on experience of the real-life applications of solar power. Home, building owners, and installers are onsite at tours to answer questions and show tour-goers how the systems work.

"I think it went very well. We had roughly 580 people registered for the event and would guess we had roughly 500 attend, which is more than double what we had last year,” explained event organizer Ken Wright of the Hampton Roads Solar Group. “Homeowners really did an excellent job presenting their homes.”

Before the event took place, Wright had his doubts.

“I was afraid it would be too strung out, and people wouldn’t be able to do all the driving, but they did," Wright said. The tour, he explained, included 21 sites and buildings from Virginia Beach to Williamsburg, covering more than 100 miles. It was free for people who chose the self-guided option and $10 for a guided tour that is getting popular, he said.

Among the sites were homes with PV, solar hot water and LEED homes, he said.

“Hopefully we presented a range of things, and showed people different ways to [go solar]. We like the fact that people can touch it and see it,” he said. "There were a couple people very seriously considering solar and using the tour do some fact-finding. I think the majority were curious about how solar worked."

If you’re interested in checking out a local event go to National Solar Tour to learn more. Events were and are being held in all 50 states—yes even Alaska—and beyond, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Mexico.