For Episode 6, we hit sunny Monterey Bay to speak with Graham Hunting of Blue Line Power, a clean energy company. We’ve split the episode up into three parts:

Part One:
Graham talks about how you can pay for a commercial or residential solar energy system. We visit the York School to see how real people have gotten off the grid and reduced their carbon footprint. We discuss rebates, tax credits, and green loans that are available to consumers. In the process, we find out how long a system lasts and how long it takes to get a return on investment.

Part Two:
Next, we learn what different types of solar panel systems are available and how efficient they are, including new innovations, like “spray-on” solar panels.

Part Three:
In the last segment, we visit a house that pays $0 in electricity bills. We see the components that make up a solar energy installation, including the inverter, the meter, and the solar panel modules. Finally, Graham touches on maintenance, cost, and why 2008 is the best year to get a residential solar system.

Last month, Nader Khalili, an earth architect from Iran passed away. Khalili developed Super Adobe and Super Block construction. These structures, made of soil, barbed wire, and a little cement, withstand extreme climactic conditions and seismic activity. Originally conceptualized for lunar colonization settlements, these adobe buildings have been built by the United Nations Development Programme to house refugees and have been used widely in hot, dry climates of the developing world. Now that green architecture has caught on, even affluent Americans are getting in on the act.

The Cal-Earth organization in Hesperia, California has plans for homes that have been approved for construction in San Bernardino County. This short documentary shows how sandbag prototypes can easily be built by local people, using local materials.