Alternative energy is getting a lot of attention these days. Government policy increasingly embraces it and private industries are trying to advance and profit from new technologies.

It's a lot for the public to understand, and the folks at Rochester Museum and Science Center want to do their part.

The RMSC recently installed solar panels on its roof. The panels will help the facility save money while also meeting some of RMSC's energy needs with clean electricity. The panels produce enough electricity to supply a house, says Victor Salerno, chair of the RMSC board and CEO of O'Connell Electric.

But that won't be the panels' only use.

"We will actually create an exhibit," says Deb Jacobson, an RMSC spokeswoman.

RMSC officials will point a camera at the panels so visitors can see the panels on a monitor inside the museum. The monitor will be hooked to an information feed that will provide data on the amount of energy produced by the panels and on RMSC's energy needs, Jacobson says. The setup will illustrate one of the chief complications of solar power: how the weather is affecting the panels' output. A solar-panel sample will be on display inside the museum, with copy that explains how the panels work.

"It will help educate the community and keep young people enthused about alternative energy," Salerno says.

The museum's mission is, after all, to build community interest in science and technology.

The exhibit will also position the museum to work with local schools to develop educational programs about alternative energy, Salerno says.

RMSC does plan to incorporate other alternative-energy technologies and environmental projects into its repertoire. Museum officials are brainstorming projects that they can install as part of the planned ArtWalk expansion - possibilities include a rain garden or a wind turbine.

"There's no reason not to do the right thing if it makes sense," Salerno says.