OPEN HOUSE FOR SOLAR HOMES
By Rick Tetzeli

(FORTUNE Magazine) – Even normal folk live in homes powered by solar energy. On October 16, gawkers will be able to visit over 100 such places in 39 states.

Among the hosts: Ted Riehle, 68, who heats his water and gets all his electricity from solar panels installed on and outside his three-bedroom house on Savage Island, Vermont. Riehle, a former Navy commander and manufacturing executive who served in the Vermont state legislature, says using solar cells is cheaper than getting hooked up with the local electric utility, whose power lines are over a mile away. The national ''open house'' day is sponsored by Real Goods Trading of Ukiah, California, a company that sells solar energy products. Says President John Schaeffer, 43, a former commune dweller: ''Our customers used to be urban refugees moving back to the land, many of them marijuana growers living in the woods, misfits, the fringes of society. Now we're getting a lot more mainstream types.'' Call him at 800-762-7325 for directions to the solar home nearest you. Sales of photovoltaic panels, which capture and store solar energy, reached $1 billion in 1992, according to Strategies Unlimited, a research firm in Mountainview, California. Manufacturers include Amoco, Kyocera, Mobil Oil, and Siemens. A homeowner typically spends between $5,000 and $10,000 to buy and install the panels and the batteries they charge. Utilities like Niagara Mohawk Power and Pacific Gas & Electric are looking into offering solar power to rural customers.