TUCSON, Ariz. — On a gorgeous day at Himmel Park, members of the Tucson community took in some sun— enough to power a rock concert.

The second annual Solar Rock music festival promoted the use of solar energy Saturday in the sunny city in Southern Arizona.

“If you think it’s hot out there right now wait 10 years. It’s going to be miserable,” Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Department of Geosciences Environmental Studies Laboratory at the University of Arizona, said during his speech.

Overpeck was one of several speakers in between sets from local bands in Tucson, including Monterey and the Arizona Daily Star’s 2008 Battle of the Bands winner Mirror Image.

Overpeck spoke about the increased dangers of global climate change in places like Southern Arizona to the crowd at the park.

“It’s a shame Boston isn’t in the Southwest, or D.C. isn’t in Alaska because those are the areas we’re going to see the change. There are some areas that are going to be losers after all of this (global climate change), and Arizona is poised to be one of the losers,” Overpeck said of several national meetings he has attended and the lack of urgency in some scientists from other parts of the country.

One of the organizers of Solar Rock, Lisa Dollinger, a chemistry lecturer at the UA, said this year’s event went much smoother and was more organized than last year’s.

“This year it was a lot easier to get things going,” Dollinger said. "It’s independent this year, and we’ve added a few new vendors. We got (Tucson Electric Power) to team up and help us out with the light bulb exchange."

"The turnout has been fantastic, and we’re just really happy with the whole idea and the day,” she said.

Among the musicians and speakers were close to 20 booths set up by members of Greenpeace, local vendors, including the Food Conspiracy Co-op of 412 N. Fourth Ave., a raffle for solar ovens (on display cooking everything from rice to meatloaf to chocolate chip cookies), a light bulb exchange, and even seed planting and face painting for children.

The Food Conspiracy Co-op booth was headed by Emily Covey, an employee, who was handing out information on the organic co-op in Tucson.

“The co-op is owned and run by our members,” Covey said. "We do a lot of bulk things to minimize the packaging. Everything from cereal to spices, you bring in your old spice jars and refill them so it’s all direct. Everything is from local growers and farmers and completely organic."

Two of the members representing the Greenpeace-sponsored Project Hot Seat, Zoe Fox and Kira Hebert, were in Tucson for the week to inspire Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to do her part to stop global warming.

Project Hot Seat is targeting 18 different members of Congress across the nation to start acting on the issue.

The solar panels that powered the musician’s stage were courtesy of GeoInnovation, a Tucson company that specializes in solar energy for homes.

“There’s enough power with these foldable panels here that we’re generating enough for this whole stage, and it’s not even being taxed,” said Tyler Smith, lead installer for GeoInnovation. "Right now, it would be like turning on your car just to listen to the radio."

Smith said the system on hand was specialized to be portable for the event, but a similar system would be enough to take an individual home completely off the power grid.

Making it completely independent of the local power companies would be something people in Tucson could take advantage of that is not available in other parts of the country with less sunlight.

Smith said a house could be "solar equipped" for approximately $8,000.

“With the way power prices are going up, people in Arizona are going to be paying what they pay in California right now, around $.35 per kilowatt," he said. "So these things will pay for themselves in half the time.”

During his speech, Overpeck pointed out to the children and teenagers in the crowd and said action on this issue was going to be a next generational event.

“Are we going to be able to sustain economic (success) and preserve way of life if people realize that this part of the country is just going to cook?” Overpeck asked. “We have to learn how to adapt, we have to get out of carbon. It’s next generational."

"The people that are going to feel these effects are our children and our grandchildren.”