Carlton solar memorial fund reaches $5,000

Donors around Palouse have already given $5,000 of the needed $20,000 for a solar panel tribute to the late Mike Carlton.

A solar company in Mount Vernon has also agreed to donate costs of installing the panels.

Because of Carlton's ongoing passion for wind energy, the Palouse Renewable Energy Group is putting together the memorial for Carlton in the form of solar panels on the roof of the town's future community center.

Dave and Sharon Tharp, along with other friends of Carlton, are interested in installing 20 panels to the roof of the center.

The couple is looking to raise $20,000 from donations to install the panels. The panels will provide part of the energy for the center. A computer system displaying the minute-by-minute energy produced by the panels may also be part of the project.

Carlton died unexpectedly Oct. 20 at the age of 49.

Carlton served the Pullman Police Department for 14 years before retiring five years ago. He took a job with the United Nations in Liberia, West Africa, teaching at a police academy. After this, he began his own wind energy company in Palouse, called Palouse Synergy.

ÒWe believe we have a dynamic project to which individuals, businesses and organizations would be interested in making a contribution,Ó said Sharon Tharp in a press release.