The best time of year to learn about solar energy is around the equinox, which is September 22nd. You can look at your site and determine the average solar exposure, knowing that it will be better 6 months of the year, and worse 6 months of the year.
On Saturday October 6th at 10:30 am, I will be teaching a free solar energy workshop at Sunbury Urban Farm, 2140 Sunbury Rd. More information can be found here.