At this year’s Vidalia Onion Festival, there will be three more reasons to celebrate besides the usual fun. Three reasons, that is, for the lucky winners of Coastal Solar’s first-ever sweepstakes giveaway.

It’s called the 12 Month Power Bills sweepstakes. There will be over $10,000 in prizes and three drawings. One winner will come from each of three categories – residential, business, and agricultural. To enter the drawing, contestants must submit their last twelve months of power bills. Why such an unusual form of entry?

Because twelve months of power bills is what it takes for Coastal Solar to provide a free solar energy quote. So even for people who don’t win the prizes, they still get a free estimate for how much energy they might be able to produce with solar panels on their home, farm, or business.

But the three lucky winners will get a lot more than that. Each winner gets $500 cash, a Benelli Montefeltro shotgun, and a cruise to the Bahamas. Anyone interested can register at 12MonthPowerBills.com.

The drawing will be held at 12 noon on Sunday, April 30^th, the last day of the festival.

Is Coastal Solar playing up the husband-wife dynamic by offering such an odd combination of prizes? Is the shotgun for the husband and the cruise for the wife so both will be happy to win?

Clay Sikes, CEO of Coastal Solar, says, “I know just as many women who would want an elite shotgun, and just as many men who’d love to relax on a cruise. What I like best about this is that one prize is an experience, and the other is something you get to own."

Why Benelli? The Benelli is a high-end shotgun, a ‘luxury shotgun,’ one might say. They’re known as guns that just keep working and never jam. They also use an advanced inertia system that absorbs more recoil than typical shotguns. Plus, they have faster cycles, which means less time between firing.

The $500 cash is meant to help pay for the other costs of going on a cruise, such as transportation. “It was important to us for people to win more than just the cruise itself so the other costs wouldn’t get in the way of their excitement,” says Sikes.

As for what else they have planned for the Vidalia Onion Festival, Coastal Solar will also be unveiling what they’re calling “The Unit.” The Unit is basically a mobile solar platform. Its purpose is to power irrigation equipment.  If you drop by Coastal Solar’s exhibit at the Onion Festival, you’ll be one of the first people to see this ground-breaking solar technology in person.

As springtime outdoor activities go, the 40^th Annual Vidalia Onion Festival is a can’t-miss event. And with Coastal Solar’s participation this year, you can see some new technology, and possibly walk away with some pretty cool prizes.