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Mountain Challenge to host Sun Day celebration on Nov. 4 to commemorate one year of 100% renewable solar energy operations

Oct. 30, 2025

Photo of the poster for the Crawford House solar renewable celebration

In September of 2024, Crawford House was officially converted to solar energy with the capacity to be 100% carbon neutral. The Solar+Storage project was a collaboration between Mountain Challenge, Solar Alliance, Fit.Green.Happy. and Maryville College.

These organizations will be celebrating one full year of renewable energy with a Sun Day event held at Crawford House on Maryville College’s campus on Nov. 2 from 2-4 p.m. and would like to invite the community to participate.

According to Mountain Challenge Founder and Owner Bruce Guillaume, the program will include a firsthand look at the solar array, an explanation of the solar project and a tour of the grounds and Crawford House building “focused on environmental initiatives.”

“We’re doing Sun Day to participate in the national solar celebration, albeit a little late, supported by Third Act nationally and Third Act Tennessee. Both organizations are supporting our Sun Day. Mostly, we need to celebrate one year of 100% renewable solar energy in our old historic house,” Guillaume said.

Third Act is an organization made up of Americans over sixty with a passion for climate action. On their website, they said they seek to change the world for the better through generational power to help protect the climate and democracy.

Although Third Act officially called Sept. 21 their “day of action,” Sun Days continue to take place, “celebrating solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind,” Third Act said on their website.

Keep Blount Beautiful called Sun Day “a nationwide celebration of clean energy progress — and a chance to stand up for the solar and wind power that’s making our communities healthier, quieter, and more affordable.”

The Solar+Storage project made the LEED Gold certified Crawford House the oldest known building in Tennessee with the capacity to be 100% renewable, marking a milestone achievement not just for Mountain Challenge’s headquarters, but for solar energy as a whole.

Mountain Challenge, Solar Alliance, Fit.Green.Happy., and Maryville College are excited for the community to be a part of commemorating this achievement. Light refreshments will be served. If you have any questions or would like to know more about Sun Day, email emma.henson@my.maryvillecollege.edu. 

— Written by Emma Henson ’25

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”