Groups and individuals in the Relocalization Network are also looking at ways to incorporate solar energy into their lives to reduce their environmental impact through creating their own media, heating, cooking, and electricity generation.

SolarTimes was initially conceived in 2006 as a newsletter for a local solar group in Stinson Beach, California that came together to promote solar energy in the community and raise awareness about sustainability issues. The newsletter was named StinsonSolarTimes by group member and editor/publisher Sandy LeonVest.

In late 2006, LeonVest, a journalist and former radio producer, decided the little newsletter had a greater calling, and struck out on her own to publish the first newspaper edition. She re-named the paper SolarTimes in 2007 to reflect its broader format and wider circulation. She also increased the content to include a wide variety of energy-related topics.

Today, SolarTimes is widely distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in the East Bay and Berkeley. "SolarTimes is available as far south as Santa Cruz and as far north as Humboldt County, California," says LeonVest. "But the vision is to go statewide - maybe even national."

SolarTimes is published quarterly and operates as an independent newspaper financed through the support of local businesses and private donations. SolarTimes can be read online at www.solartimes.org.

Interested in installing a solar energy system but wonder if your location is suitable?
Earth Charter Lifeboat Academy in Pennsylvania has been helping community members assess the suitability of sites for supporting solar technology to see whether receive sufficient sunlight using a tool called the Solar Pathfinder.

Want to start cooking with solar?
Permaculture author and teacher (and founder of Post Carbon Flagstaff) Lisa Rayner recently published the “The Sunny Side of Cooking: Solar cooking and other ecologically friendly cooking methods for the 21st century” as a practical, easy-to-follow guide for beginning and experienced solar cooks. She is currently working on several cookbooks with bioregional and renewable energy themes.

In Idaho, members of Boise Sustainable Living Community will get to experience a solar cooked meal at their upcoming monthly meeting. And in California, Jason Bradford, co-founder of Willits Economic Localization and family learned how easy it was to use a solar oven while challenging themselves to a locavore diet for one month.

For more Relocalization Network news, stay tuned for the June Relocalize Newsletter (subscribe or browse blogs, forums, news and events on relocalize.net)!