This builder near St. David (www.desertsolarhomes.com) worked with us to install a PV system on his own home. This will serve as an example for future clients of his and encourage the widespread adoption of PV.

The City of Tucson chose to set an example for other municipalities by using a solar panel with a battery to provide lighting for a park ramada at night.  The system was designed to use an LED light in order to maximize the light output for the power being produced. Neighbors appreciate the fact that because of the motion sensor trigger for the light they know when people are approaching the ramada.

These Marana residents enjoy the fact that they will be saving money with their PV system by using a natural renewable resource.

This Tucson resident chose to install both a solar electric system and a solar water heating system in their home. They enjoy the readouts they receive as they can monitor the progress of the systems over a day’s time.

These Central Tucson residents realized that they used a lot of water on citrus trees and their bills were very high. They saw rainwater harvesting as the solution to this problem. They also feel that rainwater harvesting is the right thing to do in the desert.

This customer chose to install a rainwater catchment system in order to have access to the purity of rainwater for garden and landscape use. They are also working on energy efficiency measures.

This customer had wanted to purchase a PV system for a long time in his desire to at least get partially off the grid. He finally took the step and worked with Technicians For Sustainability to get his project done. He most enjoys watching the meter go backwards.

This residence choose to install a solar water heating system in order to reduce their carbon footprint and fossil fuel use. They hope that they set a positive example for others to follow.

This customers states, “We had a cistern that we installed ourselves with help from Brad Lancaster’s book ‘Rainwater Harvesting for Dry Lands’. Our self-installed cistern was only 160 gallons and we kept getting overflow so when we saw your cisterns at a friend’s house, we decided to get larger capacity cisterns that were professionally installed.”

The homeowners believe that the idea of harvesting rainwater to nourish plants that provide food for us and for birds (and other critters) is both elegant and exciting – and they wanted to implement that idea in their lives. Since they wished to not draw on groundwater resources to support such water-loving plants as fruit trees and a garden, they are endeavoring to instead harvest as much rainwater as possible to nourish those food-producing plants. In more aesthetic terms, they like that the tanks are the same color as the house and make great use of space in a narrow side yard. The homeowners were inspired to install their own laundry greywater system after meeting with TFS and learning how simple it is. They also plan to install an outdoor shower between the cisterns whose drain will combine with the cistern overflow to irrigate their citrus trees - check back here for a photo of the shower!