Real Goods
in Hopland offers a real solar experience. Real Goods is
located at 13771 South Highway 101 on the eastern side of the road. You will see the signs
for Real Goods as you drive up the 101. Just before you turn into their Solar Living Center you will see
the controversial trees growing through old cars. These are located in front of their
Living Center and are quite an attraction. Real Goods suggests you donate
$1/vehicle as you enter their center and pass the "info booth" - if you
are visiting on a non crowded day, chances are there will not be anyone
in this booth.
The Solar Living Center is located on 12 acres of land. As you wind through their
facilities on their gravel road you will pass nicely landscaped gardens with a small pond.
The short gravel road will end in a gravel parking lot. You will see several Electric
Vehicle (EV) charging stations in this parking lot. You will also see solar cells, in fact
quite a few of them. This is where the Living Center gets its electricity.
You can take a self guided tour of the facilities at your own leisure if you like. You may
also want to consider taking a FREE guided tour. The guides have always been very prepared
and knowledgeable. There are many innovations that Real Goods has built into their
buildings and facilities in order to conserve energy. For example, they use recycled
toilet paper and low flow toilets in their bathrooms. The walls of the building are made
out of straw and mud. Burning wood, in part, keeps the buildings warm during the summer.
They have a certain room that contains many batteries. They store some of their energy in
this room. Real Goods even has enough energy on some days to sell back to the power
companies.
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Real Goods sells a variety of solar and other energy efficient products. One of my
favorites is the dynamo charging solar radio. This radio can run very well on solar
energy, or you can use batteries, or you can wind it to charge it. On a clear sunny day I
can run this radio all day just off of the small cells located on the top.
Real Goods offers SolFest, an annual event usually during the
third week in June. This is a 2-3 day event that attracts more then 10 thousand
people. Solar related vendors setup shop & visitors come from
all over. |
It starts with an
alternative energy vehicle parade from Ukiah to Hopland (about 20 miles). On a Saturday
and Sunday there are many booths that exhibit and sell solar and alternative related
items. These booths are located on the Solar Living Center. There is not enough parking at
the Solar Living Center so there are over flow parking lots, from which shuttles run back
and forth every couple of minutes. There are many speakers that give talks at this event.
Real Goods also offers FREE workshops, and classes on straw bale construction, electric
vehicles and planning and designing a solar house.
NOTE: The Days Inn located at 950 N. State Street in Ukiah offers discounts on their rooms
for SolFest. They can be reached at PHONE NUMBER (707) 462-7584.
For more information about this unique facility please call PHONE NUMBER (707) 468-9292.
Real goods has a catalogue which lists all their items for sale. You can order that by
writing to: Real Goods Trading Corp, 555 Leslie Street, Ukiah, CA 95482-5507. Real Goods
can also be visited on the web at:
www.realgoods.com |
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