Take a second to weigh in on our poll below. We’d love to know what’s on your mind.

To find out what it costs to go solar in your area, click here.

Photo Credit: WikiMedia via CC

Top solar execs, including those that met at the Solar Power International Convention in October, all understood the key to boosting solar in 2011 and beyond: tax credits, grants, and loans that make the systems enticing and affordable for homeowners and businesses.

One of the leading grant programs driving growth around the country is the Treasury Grant Program, or TGP. This program allows commercial solar projects to get a 30% grant instead of receiving the solar Investment Tax Credit.

However, in order to qualify for the TGP, construction must begin on solar installations by the fast-approaching 31st of December, 2010, a deadline that Solar Energy Industries Association hopes to extend all the way to December 31, 2012.

In addition to adding 5,000 MW of additional solar energy by 2016, such an extension would also mean 65,000 energy-related jobs could be added to the workforce by 2015. And fortunately, these jobs would be created in states that are floundering in the current economy, including Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

As other green energy options continue to increase in price, solar energy is steadily decreasing, especially as supply and demand have begun to even out. This is the time, as experts point out, that policy starts to mean more than the amount of natural sunlight that a state can produce. Hopefully, things will continue to look up from here.

Photo Credit: stantontcady via Flickr CC

No more fossil-fuel generation plants spewing greenhouse gases, lead and noxious mercury into the air, and from there into water and soil. No more cars, buses and trucks spitting out equal or greater amounts of pollutants and fumes to be absorbed by sensitive lungs, whether human, bird or animal.

Of course, Denmark, east of the UK and west of Latvia, is a tiny country of 16,640 square kilometers (smaller than the state of Washington), with a population of 5.5 million, or fewer than the state of Wisconsin.

A constitutional monarchy operating under a parliament and mixed-bag form of capitalism, Denmark has the world’s highest ratio of income equality and was four times voted “the happiest place in the world” by Forbes Magazine (2006-2009; we even did the link tracking through Forbes endless landing pages to prove it!). Forbes says that Denmark also has the best business climate in the world.

The transition to a clean, “green” energy economy will rely on the same mixed-bag that serves the real economy, with offshore wind leading. But solar will also be a part of that mix, along with biomass, geothermal and heat pumps.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) portion of that mix will be aimed primarily at residential and small business, and used to supplement wind. The advantage of solar PV being a fallback for wind is a curious synergy between the two technologies created by Nature herself; the sun doesn’t shine at night, which is when wind blows hardest!

Larger solar installations will also provide some district heating, either as solar PV or passive heating technologies, and all forms of solar are expected to be able to contribute at least half of the clean energy mix, especially as cutting-edge renewable energy storage technologies are instituted.

It’s a serious goal, and renewable energy naysayers consistently point out that – precisely because Denmark is a tiny country – it will be an easy goal to achieve. Not so much for the U.S., however, and larger countries. I fail to see the reasoning behind this.

Except for the fact that Denmark has a decent economy (it clearly didn’t allow bandits to tank the financial system), and a social welfare approach to caring for people (which keeps money out of the paws of said bandits), it has no greater workforce and no more money, per capita, than any other country, and its solar resources are certainly no greater than the U.S. In fact, at a latitude of 56° N, or midway through Canada, Denmark’s solar resources are obviously less than anywhere in the continental U.S.

Yet Denmark is determined to be carbon-free by mid-century, proving yet again that cleaning up one’s environmental act is more a matter of political will and the cooperation of concerned individuals, companies and leaders than it is a financial or social mandate.

Photo via Flickr CC: David Gilford & Milton Correa

With solar panel in tow, she educated everyone on the always-crowded GMA stage, as well as those watching from home, on the benefits of going solar and the cost benefits of leasing — that SunRun pays for, installs, remotely monitors and maintains the home solar power system. All this comes at little or no cost to the homeowner, who only pays for the clean, renewable electricity the system produces.

“All you have to do is buy the electricity just like you’re paying your normal electric company,” Jurich explained. “It’s actually even or at a discount to what you’re paying the electric company.” Except with the SunRun way, you’re using little or no fossil-fueled electricity.

So far, SunRun has delivered solar power to more than 5,000 homes in five different states. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company operates in California, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts and New Jersey. In just three years, SunRun has grown into a national leader in solar financing and solar installations, thanks in large part to the company’s high level of service, which includes solar insurance, in addition to monitoring and maintenance.

In case you missed it, you can watch the video of SunRun’s Lynn Jurich, as well as find more information on going solar with SunRun, at the GMA website.

1) When did you realize the greener lifestyle was right for you?

Hmm, hard to say, but I should have to answer this question since I had 7 Green Bloggers struggle to answer it a month ago on Planetsave.

I vividly remember Earth Day when I must have been somewhere between 7 & 9 years old. Went to a Montessori school during that time that had a strong focus on the environment. I remember an Earth Day event there where I learned more about environmental problems, recycling, and so on than I ever had. Actually, the school was connected with an organic farm. So, we occasionally did some organic farming at school. That probably had a strong effect on me as well.

Although, I think living a greener lifestyle really kicked in for me at the end of high school and beginning of college. That’s when the enormity of the problems we face hit me.

Also, should say that my parents are very environmentally conscious, so certain environmentally friendly habits and thinking were a part of my upbringing and subconsciously infiltrated my being from as long as I was learning anything probably.

2) How long have you been vegan/vegetarian, and what benefits have you noticed with the change in your diet?

Well, have to be honest here,.. I’m not entirely vegan. I was for about a year and a half at one point, but somehow slipped out of it (local goat milk in Ithaca, NY got it started). I have been a vegetarian since birth (or earlier, I guess), don’t eat anything from eggs on up. I’m thinking about doing full-scale veganism again, but a bit difficult for me here in Poland.

When I was vegan, I did feel quite a bit healthier and didn’t have a problem with being vegan the whole time (until I found that local goat milk in Ithaca — saw no harm in using it, but then sort of slipped out of veganism slowly, so I guess the ‘gateway drug’ wasn’t so harmless after all).

3) With all the locations you’ve lived, how do attitudes toward green living differ? What city/area embraces it the best, in your opinion?

It’s an interesting question, because some of the greenest places I’ve lived don’t have a lot of people with “green” attitudes, per say. They live greener lifestyles for other reasons, it seems.

For example, in the Netherlands, people live extremely green lifestyles, but it was actually difficult to find people with any special concern for the environment there. In Poland, where I live now, people live in quite environmentally friendly ways, but environmental concern and activism is clearly lower than in the places I lived in the US. For more on this, I wrote an article on sustainablog titled 7 Environmental Lessons from Living in Europe where I discuss some of these lifestyle differences in a little more depth. Could go on for pages about it here, but probably best to cut myself off.

In the US, the Bay Area definitely had a great green culture. Love it. College towns like Chapel Hill/Carrboro (NC) and Ithaca (NY) were also very green, naturally, but actually seemed a bit more pervasive out in the Bay Area (but that’s just my subjective opinion).

4) You write for a number of green and clean energy websites. What are the benefits each offers and how can readers take each as a benefit in their own lives?

I like this question. Well, I like all of them, but this is something that I think about a lot but hardly have the chance to discuss.

It’s a little overwhelming trying to cover news and provide my own (hopefully helpful) thoughts in such a variety of sectors — food, energy, environment, the oceans, climate — but it also makes me keep a wider perspective and not get too locked into one topic. I think we live in a little too much of a specialized way these days and like the idea of being a bit of a ‘Renaissance Man’. But, back to your question, this is my opinion on the benefits of each site:

• Planetsave: We cover climate change and other environmental science news pretty thoroughly here — and trying to up our coverage every month. If you want the latest news on those topics, it’s a great place to go. Also, we really try to add steps you can take in your daily life or specific activism opportunities you can get engaged in as much as possible. The site is about more than news — it’s about being a positive force for change, empowering people to makes changes and get involved in their own lives.
• Eat.Drink… Better: Similar to Planetsave, but on the topic of food, we try to help people keep up to date with the latest food and health news but also offer a lot of encouragement and stimulus for taking that news and incorporating it into your life. All kinds of great, fun recipes on there as well.
• Cleantechnica: Basically, all the news on clean tech (especially solar energy, wind energy, wave energy, and the smart grid) you could want. Additionally, we bring in some news on climate change from time to time and get quite political on this site as well (ok, pretty often).
• Green Living Ideas: Like on Planetsave, this site focuses a lot on what you can do in your personal life. It’s about empowerment and bringing innovative green living ideas to more people.
• Blue Living Ideas: This is about the same thing as Green Living Ideas but for ‘blue’ issues. It is also a source of big news regarding the oceans, water, and climate change. A lot of stuff on here that is under the radar but very critical to a high quality of life for our children or even ourselves.
• Earth & Industry: Focusing on the nexus between the environment and business, this site brings you a lot of news and green business tips you couldn’t find on a general ‘green’ site (or even anywhere else on the internet). Some great, original journalism and commentary on this site.
• Ecopolitology: Where environmental issues and politics meet. This site includes very original, critical commentary and news on the biggest eco-political topics and also includes a lot of fun and controversial pieces that you can’t find anywhere else — if you’re working in the enviro-politics field, controversy is a given and you have to lighten things up from time to time to survive the tragedies.
• Sustainablog and EcoLocalizer: These are two sites I don’t regularly contribute to anymore, but which contain a lot of my earlier articles. Sustainablog has a good mixture of articles on large-scale environmental topics and original pieces on integrating green solutions into your own life. For the latter, sustainablog is certainly a leader on the web and that is what I focused on there myself. Ecolocalizer, as you might guess, covers big green news from specific cities, regions, and countries around the world.

5) Any parting advice for people looking to start living greener?

The biggest specific actions you can take are: 1: switch to a vegan or vegetarian diet (new study shows vegetarians are happier, too); 2. give away your car (look into carsharing or just renting a car when you need one from time to time); and 3: put solar panels on your house.

To get the motivation and courage to do these things, surround yourself with green people — in the ‘real world’ or just on the web.

Ready to learn more about living green? You can follow Zachary at any of the above websites or via social media: @zshahan3, Google Buzz, StumbleUpon, or on his personal site.

Minnesota Wants Clean, Local Energy

An attempt at overturning a law that prevents new dirty energy plants (and I include nuclear in that category) fell short in Minnesota this week. A great step for Minnesotans and Americans alike, as more and more states turn to clean energy as the answer for keeping the grid lit. Ecolocalizer has the full tale of Minnesota rejecting dirty coal policy.

A Lesson in Government Energy Plans From UK?

As the US federal government continues to struggle to find the answer to our energy problems and dependence on foreign sources, British government offered their own solution. A program that sounds similar to Berkely’s own PACE program, it allows loans and incentives spanning from installing solar panels to updating energy efficiency in the home. SUNfiltered’s Jeff McIntire-Strasburg explains more about the British energy plan.

Over 200,ooo Jobs from American Power Act

A new report released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics this week indicates that over 200,000 jobs could be created every year if Congress were to come together on Kerry/Lieberman’s energy bill. Killing the Republicans’ claim that the APA will hinder job growth in the US is Earth and Industry with their take on the climate bill that creates jobs.

5 Beautiful Etsy Garden Eco-Finds

Summer is just around the corner and many gardens are already coming to life. But, if you’re having trouble remembering where you planted the basil and rosemary, fear not! GreenUpgrader has you covered with the top 5 recycled garden products on Etsy! Go Green, go garden!

Green & Ugly: How Not to Win Over Mainstream America

No matter how green, how energy efficient or how downright awesome a product is, it does nothing if no one’s willing to buy it. Such is the conundrum of the Aeolus concept phone. Sure, it recharges on either wind or solar power, but what does it matter if it’s too ugly to be noticed? Treehugger lays out the three laws of environmental design for us all to enjoy.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend…we’ll see you right back here next week!

Photo Credit: Technorati

Recently, our resident green and solar guru Taylen had the pleasure of asking the Live Green Mom some questions about the trials and triumphs of attempting the holy eco-trinity: Living. Greening. Mothering.

Why the green life? What was the light bulb that clicked on to start this lifestyle?

A: When I was 12, in 1982, I spent the summer in Hamburg, Germany with my grandparents, my Oma and Opa. My grandparents brought their own shopping bags to the markets with them.  Everyone was actively recycling and there were places to recycle everywhere, including metal bins placed here and there to drop off your old batteries.  In 1982! Unheard of here in the USA! I remember thinking “What a pain, why don’t they just throw it away?”

I didn’t think of it again until I became an adult. When I moved from Texas to Boston, in 1995, I noticed that recycling was a part of most everybody’s daily life. Recycling bins were everywhere. I did the basic recycling that our garbage pick up service offered, but that was about it. It wasn’t until I became a mom and the garbage really started to pile up – diapers, wipes, etc – that it started to sink in more. But I was elbow-deep and sleep-deprived in raising babies and toddlers, so I still didn’t dig in like I should have.

What measures are you taking in your everyday life to be green?

A: To me, being green isn’t just about recycling, reducing, reusing. It’s about trying to eat more organic foods, less processed foods, getting rid of chemicals in our household. I’ve done a great job, if I do say so myself, on getting rid of chemicals around my house. That was not hard at all.  The food thing? That’s my challenge. My kids, while not being junky eaters, refuse to try new fruits and vegetables based on color & texture. It’s the single most frustrating thing I deal with these days, my children and what they will – and won’t – eat.

I do make it a point to recycle what I can. You know, you cannot recycle a pizza box with a grease stain on it, but I’ve been know to cut off those parts of the box so I could recycle the rest. I point it out to the kids so they get the message – can’t recycle all of it? Then try and recycle what you can of it. We also, of course, bring our own stainless steel water bottle with us when we go out. I bring my own containers to restaurants for leftovers, instead of using a to-go box. I know that if I implement these ideals in my kids early on (they are 6 and 8), then it just becomes a thoughtful way of life for them, instead of a struggle to change ingrained habits when they are older.

How is it different living in New England as compared to Texas in regards to the green life?

A: It is WAY different! It seems as though Massachusetts is just ahead of the curve in all things green, compared to Texas. Texas is getting there, but my mom only just starting having the option to curbside recycle over the past couple of years. She isn’t in the best of health, so keeping her recyclables and toting them to a recycling center just wasn’t an option for her. So she just threw everything away. When I go back home, I see all the little holes here and there that could be filled with a greener option. Here, I can bring plastic bags I have accumulated from bread or whatever to the grocery store and put it in a plastic bag recycling bin. When I’m back in Dallas, not so much. Not everyone shops at Whole Foods.

Has being a wife and mother change the pursuit of being green? If so, in what ways?

A:  I started to realize that I wanted my children, and grandchildren, to be able to enjoy the earth the way I have, the way our grandparents have. And with the way things are going, it is getting harder and harder to promise my kids anything close to what we knew. Just like when I was a kid in elementary school, I could go outside and roam my neighborhood for hours, playing with whoever was home, and coming back in time for dinner. Can’t do that now. Someone would call social services on you! What is the weather going to be like for my grandchildren? What we do today with our environment directly affects the answer to that question.

Also, the environment is having a direct impact on our health. Infertility, allergies, asthma. My son was born with nut allergies and eczema, and no one in my family has ever had any allergies. What caused that? I’m lucky it wasn’t worse, and I’m even luckier that he has outgrown his nut allergy. But many aren’t so fortunate, and I think it will get worse. I also hope that by having a greener lifestyle, my children have no problem having their own children someday. Infertility due to environmental reasons are a very big issue these days. Plastics are coming back to bite us in the ass.

What ideas, tips, and/or advice do you have for other families trying to do their part in going green?

A: It is so easy to enthusiastically  say “from now on, I’m green all the way!” but hard to implement on a large scale all at once.  My whole thing is “small changes add up.” Start with baby steps or you will get overwhelmed and give up. Most of us think in an all-or-nothing mindset, “If I can’t do it all I’m not going to do any of it,” but that doesn’t get us anywhere. You wouldn’t expect your child to master reading the first week he was taught it; reading is taught in steps until you master it. It takes time. Same with going green. Start small and build from there. We are all learning and working toward the same goal. Hopefully!

– — –

As a man not totally foreign to child-rearing (I have done my small share of doo-doo duty) and brother to a real-live green mom in her own right, I have born witness to the tribulations of trying to raise children eco-friendly. I’ve seen the price tag on Seventh Generation diapers. I know that some kids just don’t want organic carrots over individually wrapped Ho-Hos. Yet I’ve only had a small taste of the everyday challenges that Helga and the Live Green Mom ilk face and the dedication it must take to continually strive to get healthier and greener.

Such is the inspiration of Live Green Mom as she helps create an inter-web of green lifers — mother, father, uncle and aunt alike.

1) As a former English professor, from where did the curiosity for Sustainability stem?

I’ve always been a nature lover — I’m a great example of how getting kids outdoors builds a lifelong love for environmental issues, as I spent a lot time during my childhood hiking, camping, fishing, etc. The motivation for starting sustainablog, however, grew from reading books like Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, Ray Anderson’s Mid-Course Correction, and even Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael novels. Like many people, I’d bought into the idea that the environment and the economy were at loggerheads by nature… these works opened my eyes to the idea that the economic system could be a force for environmental conservation and restoration. I became fascinated by these ideas, and started sustainablog as a way to grapple with them.

2) You started Sustainablog in 2003, but has there always been an interest in sustainability? What has kept you going for so long, and what will keep you going into the future?

The short answer is I got lucky… I started blogging just before the most recent wave of “green consciousness” hit. As such, it’s always been relatively easy to find inspiring stories about “eco-innovation“… whether they involve large corporations recognizing the bottom-line benefits of going green, or families, organizations, and small businesses finding opportunities to lighten their footprints in ways that make sense for them. As long as there are good stories to tell, I stay motivated… and I don’t see them drying up anytime soon.

3) What excites you most about the future of renewable energy and where do you see the path leading us?

Mainstream acceptance of renewables, as well as energy efficiency technologies, really excite me. Solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal systems aren’t just for eccentrics and treehuggers anymore… they make sense for most people. More market adjustments are still needed — our system of incentives for energy production are still heavily skewed towards dirty fuels — but an awful lot of ordinary people are getting it, and demanding support for renewables.

I also love to see stories about entrepreneurs experimenting with new technologies, as well as new business models. I’m excited about companies like SunRun, for instance, which is developing alternative financing models for home solar power. While I don’t expect government to solve these problems, I also think there are some innovative policies out there, such as property tax financing. I do think government has a role to play, but a lot has got to change in order for it to do what it does best: protect the commons. Until we can really reform campaign finance and the influence of lobbyists, I’m not as hopeful about government solutions on renewables… they still seem to think ethanol’s the answer.

4) What are you, and others working with Sustainablog, doing to lessen your environmental impact?

Well, my new partner really has me beat on this front. He (as well as frequent contributor ziggy) lives at the Dancing Rabbit Eco-Village in NE Missouri… they’re living in a very sustainable fashion. They run the village primarily on renewable energy, grow a lot of their own food (and buy much of the rest locally), share biodiesel-powered vehicles, build with natural or recovered materials… I’ve been really impressed with their work up there.

While I live a more traditional lifestyle, I certainly do what I can: recycle, compost, garden, ride my bike or walk when feasible. I work from home, which makes a big difference, I think… I fill my car up once or twice a month. I live in a 106-year-old house (which does still need some efficiency upgrades). I use a reel lawn mower on my tiny little yard, and have replaced a portion of it with native buffalo grass.

I have to think hard on that question… some practices have become so ingrained that I forget they’re “green…”

5) What advice can you offer on how others can get involved and join the green revolution?

I think approaching it as taking control of your life is really helpful… we don’t have to do things as they’ve always been done (or as they seem to have always been done… our current lifestyle model is pretty new). It’s easy to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do, but approaching “green” as a form of empowerment works really well in my experience. Tired of paying high gas prices? Look for alternative means of transportation, whether it’s a bicycle or a city bus. Utility bills high? Here are some ways to think about your energy use, and how to lower it. Think the tomatoes you buy at the grocery store are kind of bland? Grow your own, or head to the farmer’s market to see what local growers have available. Are there trade-offs? Sure… but helping people to recognize that there are changes they can make, and those change allow them to regain some control, makes a big difference. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a big fan of the “self-reliance” approach to sustainability… and I think that can have appeal beyond those of us who consider ourselves environmentalists.

1) When did the journey of living the natural life start for you?

For me, a lot of the ‘waste not, want not’ mentality was something I grew up with, but it wasn’t until I started volunteering (and later working for) our local natural foods co-op that I really started investigating many of the issues affecting our communities and environment. I began reading all I could about our food system and our wasteful culture, and determined that I wanted to do things differently, both for myself, and for my children.

In order to begin, we started a tiny house experiment that lasted for almost 6 years, living with no running water, a humanure toilet, and a minimum of electric usage. It was an eye-opener for us, and we learned a lot about what we really needed in our daily lives. I highly recommend that people who wish to explore living in an alternative manner should consider a similar experiment.

2) How has being a father and husband affected living a green lifestyle?

Becoming a family man made me think twice about the status quo – what’s accepted as normal for kids and health – and because my children are the most precious part of my life, I wanted to lessen their exposure to anything harmful (or even anything suspected of being harmful). My wife has been a huge influence on that, as mothers have an incredible protective instinct (the ‘mama bear’ instinct, we call it) and can be very suspicious of anything that would come in contact with them, even if the accepted belief is that the products are safe.

I also have a desire to leave my children a world that still has clean air and food and water, along with unspoiled wild places to explore, and that has been a big motivator for me.

3) You offer a ton of great advice on your blog for parents, especially fathers. If you had to give one piece of advice to fathers on living a happy, sustainable lifestyle, what would it be?

Hmm. That’s a tough question. I guess I would have to say that we really need to examine our priorities. If our family and our family’s health isn’t a priority for us, then we probably won’t take the efforts necessary to move to sustainability. That may seem over-simplified, but I think it’s at the heart of the issue.

And an unsolicited second piece of advice: The parents need to act as one, and not confuse kids with differing messages (i.e. Mom recycles, dad doesn’t. Dad eats healthy, mom doesn’t, etc.)

4) What steps are you taking to create the self-sufficient home for your family?  How close are you to realizing this dream?

We’ve owned a 40-acre parcel out in the boonies for a number of years, but haven’t been able to move forward on building it as we lived too far away to make it happen. This past year, we moved to within 4 hours drive from it, and are working to save the money to sink a well (a huge necessity here in the southwest.) In the meantime, we are planning to build a tiny house on the land this fall, so we have a base camp to live in while building our home.

I plan to build an earthbag house (a dome) from the earth on site, which can be built with a minimum of imported materials. The house will integrate rainwater collection, passive solar features, and be completely off grid. We are big advocates of permaculture gardening, and as soon as we have water on site, we can begin planting fruit and nut trees, as well as put up a greenhouse and coldframes for long season food production.

5) What is the biggest thing you’ve learned in the whole process of living a sustainable lifestyle and what can we expect from you in your continued quest?

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that it takes a big commitment to making radical changes in our lives in order to even begin to live sustainably. Our culture (me included) is addicted to imported goods, our petroleum fueled vehicles, cheap energy from coal, and food that travels across the globe just for our pleasure.

My hope is that I can document our project as an inspiration and teaching opportunity for others, and perhaps even have some hands-on workshops for those who wish to pursue a similar dream.

We’ve considered turning it into an intentional community at some point, but our experience with such ventures has shown us that interpersonal relationships play a big part in whether it can succeed, and most of the people who have expressed interest in it aren’t willing to give up their modern lifestyle.

I think there is a very real need for sustainable building and communities in urban areas, but unfortunately, local regulations make it difficult for owner-builders and those who wish to use alternative building methods. And that’s one of the main reasons we chose to pursue our project out in the backcountry.

You can follow Derek’s journey  at Natural Papa or on Twitter @derekmarkham.

I am certainly no pessimist about solar power, but neither am I a watery-eyed dreamer gazing at the sunrise with tear-jerking visions of flying solar-powered cars or islands floating on air. The pessimist view sees even a significant contribution to US energy consumption by solar power as a pipe dream, and an expensive one given all the incentive and research money that has and will be handed out to the solar cause.

On the other hand, there can also be a bit of hyperbole and over-excitement on the optimist side – people wearing sandwich board signs declaring, “The Sun is Coming,” and “Renew! For The End of Coal is Nigh!” Well, maybe not that hyperbolic, but there is a real tendency toward extreme positivism in the solar industry (more so a few years ago, pre-recession). Declarations for the building of “the largest solar power plant in the world” are almost a daily occurrence. Utilities have signed power purchase agreements for space solar power projects that don’t have funding yet and haven’t even been tested. Hundreds of projects in0 the desert Southwest once broadcast to the world as evidence of the solar revolution have hit a brick wall in the permitting stages.

Hang-ups like those have brought many in the solar industry (or at least those of us who write about it) down to earth a bit, which, I dare say, is one of the best things that could’ve happened. But, before I get ahead of myself, those pessimists deserve a little chiding as well. The future can be hard to comprehend, especially given the technological revolution we’re currently experiencing. I can’t even fathom what we may be talking into, driving or riding to work by the end of this brand-new decade. Those who don’t believe solar power can ever be a significant power source, touting instead that we should drill for more oil, keep digging up tar sands and decapitating mountaintops for coal, I can only dub short-sighted. The movement – both of industry and people – has begun, and although no one can say exactly how it will progress, it is progressing, inexorably.

Yet as the solar industry grows, and millions made turn into billions made turn into trillions, let’s not get self-absorbed or greedy about it. Perhaps solar power could provide all the energy that the world, or at least large portions of it, could ever need. But why should it?

Look at it this way: solar power is a resource very diverse in its applications. It heats domestic hot water, heats living spaces, provides electricity, cooks food, gets clean water and lighting to schools and villages in the developing world, heats swimming pools and can even provide air conditioning. But stepping back a bit further, we find that the broader renewable energy industry is equally diverse. Wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass are all viable alternative sources of energy, each with their own applications and issues. Indeed, part of the advantage of renewable energy is that it can provide a diverse energy mix, which we now lack, as well as an electric grid to handle that new mix.

Could solar be our primary source of energy? Maybe. Would solar be our primary resource? Perhaps. Should solar dominate our energy mix? Not any more than naturally results from a unified drive toward a renewable energy grid that embraces any and all clean sources of energy where they are most relevant. Already we see it happening in a still-young industry. Solar is going gangbusters in the sunny Southwest. Moving north and west of the Rocky Mountains, we are seeing geothermal power crop up. On windy Midwestern plains (windy deserts, too) turbines pepper the landscape and convert the earth’s powerful breezes into electricity. Hybrid wind-solar, solar-biomass and solar-fuel cell products or concepts are already out there.

Overall, despite frequent arguments as to which is better in the long run, there is a sense of unity in the renewable energy industry, a collaborative drive to combat climate change and make the world a healthier place to live. That is what gives me optimism. All I’m asking today is that we keep it that way well into tomorrow.