Some 18,000 industry professionals attended the largest solar event in the Americas. 425 companies exhibited products, half the number that tried to get space. Highlighted speakers included California Governor Arnold Schwarzegger, Former NATO Commander General Wesley Clark, and U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

In Wayne New Jersey, the town council unanimously passes a measure virtually banning wind turbines from the entire town, while Cape Elizabeth Maine approves small-scale wind for about one fifth of the town's properties. Battle proves NIMBY is alive and well, and that, in the words of the late Tip O'Neill, "all politics is local"

SolarCity is transforming the nature of solar installations. Starting in California, and expanding into Arizona and soon Oregon, the company is bringing standardization to what had been a mom and pop business and has teamed up with Wall Street investment banking house Morgan Stanley to create a unique model to finance solar installations

While spec homes across the country are sitting empty, Adam Bearup can't build his hybrid homes fast enough to satisfy demand. He uses a combination of technologies to create affordable LEED qualified homes that are a model for how to create the trend instead of succumb to it.

Southwest Windpower is the leading supplier of small scale wind turbines in the United States. In a candid conversation with Zero Energy News, co-founder Andy Kruse, the public face of the company, talks about the reasons he believes in small scale wind and why it is a practical energy solution

The Fox Business Channel highlighted its Earth Day programming with a series of live reports from a zero energy home in Dexter, Michigan. Correspondent Jeff Flock interviewed builder/owner Bob Burnside and demonstrated various energy efficient technologies including photo-voltaics and net metering.

The numbers don't lie. When you look at total monthly cost of ownership, including factors like tax credits for solar, it's actually cheaper to buy a zero energy home than a comparably sized traditionally built home. That means more money in the home owner's pocket each and every month. Now it's up to zero energy builders to make the case to the public

At the recent SolarPower 2007 Conference in Long Beach California, the buzz on the show floor was all about more efficient Photovoltaic panels and about BIPV, Building Integrated Photovoltaics, those panels that don’t even look like panels.