Believe it or not, there may not be enough solar panels in the manufacturing pipeline to meet the demand!  With recent incentive programs and the rising cost of energy, solar is becoming more popular than ever, and suppliers can’t keep up.  Is this a dream come true for the solar industry, or a nightmare?

Two Oregon suppliers, Sanyo and SolarWorld, have a backlog of work that will take them into the new year.  “We haven’t had enough supply to meet our own demand for some time,” says Aaron Fowles, spokesman for Sanyo. “We’ve been doing all we can to expand our facilities and bring production closer to our markets.”

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Named after the innovator who designed the geodesic dome, the Buckminster Fuller Institute has announced its call for entries to the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an annual $100,000 prize program that supports the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems. Winners over the past years provide solid evidence in support of this philosophy.

“We’re looking for solutions that address multiple problems without creating new ones down the road— integrated strategies dealing with key social, economic, environmental, policy and cultural issues. Our entry criteria is deeply inspired by what Fuller termed comprehensive anticipatory design science— an approach we feel holds an important key to the design of strategies aimed at having a transformative effect on the system as a whole. We are very grateful for the recognition the prize recipients have received to date and hope this will lead to the greater understanding and wide-spread application of the whole systems, design science approach we are championing.” said executive director Elizabeth Thompson in the press release.

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It isn’t easy being a homeowner right now. The country is only just beginning to recover from the biggest economic crises since the great depression, home values are way down, unemployment is high, and things just keep getting more expensive; including energy bills. There are lot’s of great ways to reduce our energy consumption, helping both the planet and our wallet; from energy efficient light bulbs to hybrid cars. But one of the biggest energy wasters is usually also the most overlooked – the Garage Door.

Our homes are insulated to keep the elements out and comfortable temperature in. We install insulated windows and doors so that we can access our homes without compromising the energy efficiency. But what about the garage door? It’s basically the biggest door in the house, shouldn’t it be energy efficient too?

Say you have a garage door in Chicago, a city notorious for cold winters. If your door isn’t properly insulated, your garage is going to feel like an ice box. And while you might not care what it feels like in the garage, you probably do care if a bedroom next to it is cold. An energy efficient garage door will put a stop to that cold air invading your home, driving up your energy usage.

Thankfully the US Government doesn’t want us wasting energy any more than we do, so Uncle Sam is incenting homeowners with an Energy Tax Credit. The Energy Tax Credit, effective until end of 2010, allows homeowners to claim a 30% tax credit on qualifying home improvement costs; you can get up to $1,500 back. Think of it as “Cash For Clunkers” but for your old garage doors & windows.

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This July, the Italian utility Enel unveiled “Archimede”, one of the most important developments in the emerging field of concentrating solar power (CSP), importantly showcasing this power plant as the first CSP  plant in the world to use molten salts for heat transfer and storage.

Archimede, a 5 MW plant located in Priolo Gargallo (Sicily). The breakthrough project was co-developed by the utility, Enel, and ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. The name, “Archimede,” refers to the rows of huge parabolic mirrors used to capture the sun’s rays, recalling the “burning mirrors” that Archimedes is said to have used to set fire to the Roman ships besieging Syracuse during the Punic War of 212 BC.

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This week, we are covering all aspects of Green living from living off the grid to happy carnivores and proud of it. I am really looking forward to sitting down, putting my feet up and reading  the the Pure Green Living Magazine this weekend. {Photo above} Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend Eco Style. And big congrats to our Important Media Editor, Zachary Shahan.

Check out the Pure Green Living Magazine which just launched. It’s an online magazine which brings you Eco Living with Style.

Interview with Zachary Shahan, our Editor for Planet Save, on CalSave. He’s the green man about town writing for five leading online Green Publications.

If you live in the city {meaning New York City} go recycle your eWaste this weekend. Go Green and Recycle Your Old Stuff at The Hester Street Fair THIS WEEKEND! Head on over to the Hester Street Fair, where awesome green community organization The Lower East Side Ecology Center will be collecting and recycling anything and everything you want to get rid of: compostables, clothing, old electronics, toys and books, etc. {via Inhabitat}

I have been looking to revamp my office space. Well West Elm introduced the Pratt Home Office collection of eco-friendly and affordable furniture which was collaborated with the prestigious art & design school, Pratt Institute. {via Jetson Green}

5 Easy and Affordable Ways to Start Using Solar Power {via Sustainablog}

A book review by David of The Good Human Book Review: Off The Grid By Nick Rosen. I always found the concept of living off the grid a fascinating one. I am not sure if I am cut out for it but I have tremendous respect for others who do. {via The Good Human}

This article by the Elephant Journal started a somewhat of a controversy on facebook that even I had to respond. Why: Practically all I Eat is Meat. ~ John Spina {via Elephant Journal}

A recent article in the Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce by Mark Winder brought up an interesting point about green buildings: sometimes they aren’t as efficient as they were meant to be.  Winder cites a 2008 study by the New Buildings Institute regarding the energy use of LEED certified buildings.  The report says that while most of the certified buildings were performing as expected or better, a full 25% were not as efficient as originally designed.  I know this is a hot topic, as many conversations are taking place regarding “greenwashing” (presenting products as green when they may not be) and the added cost of going green.

In my opinion there are (at least) three factors driving this trend of non-efficiency in green buildings: design issues, constructability, and building operations.  My intention here is not to assign blame, but give my impression of what I see happening on projects.

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Evidence of new buildings featuring an innovative and cost-effective roof can now be seen in a growing number of African nations, including Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sudan, as part of a Roofs for the World initiative.

This roof is called a Thin Shell Composite Hyperbolic Paraboloid, or TSC Hypar, thus the name, TSC Global, which proclaims  the building methodology using this roof has the potential for revolutionizing roofing and construction in the most impoverished and remote parts of the globe. TSC Global executive director, Brad Wells, says that compared to the corrugated steel roof structures seen everywhere in the developing world, TSC roof construction requires a minimum in cut lumber, demands no power machinery for construction, and leaves almost no carbon footprint. In addition, buildings featuring these roofs are significantly quieter in rain and windstorms, and can be earthquake resistant.

Denver-based TSC Global was created to build, promote and fully develop this construction method, with the belief that there is real potential to dramatically enhance the overall quality and affordability of structures used by millions if not billions of people worldwide. It is now focusing on a potential rebuilding program for Haiti.

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A recent conversation on Linked-In focused on the perception that it costs more to build green, debating whether this is really true or if it is a fallacy that some in the industry work at perpetuating.  This got me thinking of an exercise I did a couple of years ago to illustrate the costs associated with going green.  It involved the simple act of changing one 100 Watt incandescent light bulb for an equivalent CFL bulb.  I looked at the costs of purchasing and operating the bulbs throughout their useful life.  The results … well, you’ll have to read on to find out!

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The future of our planet and ecosystem seem to be in jeopardy according to most scientists, and it doesn’t help when there are catastrophic events like the BP oil spill to speed up the process. Despite all the gloom and doom, “Our Cities Ourselves: The Future of Transportation in Urban Life” is an exhibition that celebrates the future and urbanism as well.

Ten of the world’s leading architects show how the integration of urban planning and transport can enable cities to thrive through population growth in a new exhibition at the Center for Architecture. “Our Cities Ourselves is a partnership between ITDP and some of the world’s most innovative architects, to help us imagine our cities freed from the devastating effects of accommodating rapid motorization,” says Walter Hook, Executive Director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

[View with PicLens]

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Budget cuts may be abundant, but they have less impact when it comes to the variety of tax incentives that are available for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. Sadly, many of these attractive options get left on the table, points out a recent article drafted by Ramon Reynoso and Steve Heusinger.

According to the article, “Despite tight budgets, most state tax incentive programs have survived or increased, providing an exceptional opportunity for companies to improve the environment while enhancing their bottom line.”

For states looking to bolster their economies by attracting green jobs, the federal government provides something like $2.3 billion in new incentives for renewable energy. The authors say many state legislatures require minimum investments while looking at the quality and quantity of jobs created.  Additionally, many states are using federal stimulus money to fund their incentive programs.

For companies to get these incentives, however, is not as easy as it may sound. Applicable regulations are often complex, say the authors. Also, many of the incentive programs are in a constant state of flux due to rule revisions from state and local governments.

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