Whatever Happened to ... 1993 : Revisiting some of View’s most talked-about stories, we find progress for anxious parents and neon signs, second thoughts about a controversial sect - and pregnant women still craving “magic” salad. : Energy Buffs Pull Plug on Utilities

Organizers of the National Tour of Independent Homes say they’re already planning an alternative-energy encore for 1994.

The first event, held Oct. 16, attracted an estimated 10,000 people--including several hundred in Southern California--to 160 homes from Florida to Alaska offering demonstrations of renewable energy such as solar, wind or water.

“We had no idea what to expect,” said Karen Hensley, supervisor of environmental projects at Real Goods Trading Corp., the Ukiah, Calif., company that organized the project. “Nobody had ever done anything like this.”

Real Goods, which sells environmental products by mail, worked on the event for almost a year, with the idea of showing off the strides in alternative-energy technology for rural or urban living (“Utility-Free Is Their Sol Goal,” View, Oct. 14, 1993). The 1994 celebration, as yet unscheduled, will continue such an emphasis.

Explained President John Schaeffer, “Everybody accepts a solar wristwatch or hand calculator, but no one thinks of solar running their computers or microwaves.”

So his company asked people across the country, living in varying states of energy independence, to open their homes to visitors who might want to see a photovoltaic cell panel up close.

More than 500 people showed up at Mark and Diane Weidner’s home in little Dripping Springs, Tex. That set the record, Hensley said.

The three participating locations in the immediate Los Angeles area all reported busy traffic. They were:

* Eco-Home in Los Feliz, where director Julia Russell said the 75-plus visitors particularly appreciated the opportunity to get technical information on solar design and water conservation along with their tour.

* Ivan Forbes of Sylmar estimated his guest list at 150. He has retrofitted his 1964 three-level house with solar panels to heat water, photovoltaic cells to produce electricity, geothermal cooling and a wind turbine. “We had lots of guests who have retirement property elsewhere and are going to build solar homes,” he said. “That makes a lot more sense than re-doing, like I did.”

* Ted Baumgart in La Crescenta showed approximately 200 visitors through his 3,000-square-foot solar house, which is under construction. “Most of them were very knowledgeable,” he said. “It was probably one of the highest points in my solar life. People really appreciated it.”