Unity College to Gift White House Solar Panels to People of China and Solar Energy Industries Association of America

UNITY, Maine, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Thursday, August 5, Unity College will gift two solar panels formerly atop the White House to the people of China and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The event will be held at 11 a.m. at the Unity College Centre for the Performing Arts, 42 Depot Street in Unity, Maine. Present to accept a solar panel on behalf of the people of China will be Mr. Huang Ming, Chairman of Himin Solar Energy Group in China, and a representative from SEIA of Washington, D.C.

The panel gifted to Mr. Huang Ming will be a permanent, centerpiece display at the Solar Science and Technology Museum, Dezhou, Shandong Province, China.

Read more about Himin Solar Energy Group and China's solar valley online at http://www.solarthermalworld.org/node/403.

Distinguished invited guests include the 39^th President of the United States Jimmy Carter, Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, the Maine Congressional and Senatorial delegation, Governor John Baldacci, honored guests from the solar community across New England along with business, environmental, and Maine legislative leaders.

The story of the Carter solar panels, including Unity College's prominent role in the tale, is the subject of the recently released film A Road Not Taken. It is a 66-minute documentary by Swiss filmmakers Christina Hemaner and Roman Keller and was recently screened at the 13^th annual Maine International Film Festival.

The event in Unity is associated with the 350.org team's Global Work Party on October 10 (http://www.350.org/). This organization has launched a Put Solar On It campaign (http://putsolaron.it/) calling on heads of state to install solar panels on their residences. A California company has offered to donate a PV array to the White House for this purpose (http://www.solaronthewhitehouse.com/).

As part of this effort, Unity College, stewards of the solar thermal Jimmy Carter Solar Panels will return a Carter panel to the White House in early September while on a Solar Road Trip. The trip involves a small group of students and other Unity College affiliates travelling with Bill McKibben and the Put Solar On It team to D.C., making event and press conference stops along the way.

The launch of the trip will be from the Unity House, the net-zero energy, LEED Platinum residence of Unity College President Mitchell Thomashow and his wife, Cindy.

The panel donated to the White House in October will serve as an historic symbol emphasizing the need for new energy and climate policy in America.

SOURCE Unity College