Utopias have always had a place in the American vision, from William Penn's "Sylvania," to Robert Owen's New Harmony, to the Oneida and Shaker communities and the Amana Colonies, right up to The Farm, in Tennessee founded in 1971 by back-to-the land hippies.

Solar electricity may seem like a gift from the Gods, but in fact it was an invention of man (perhaps God inspired), and it is not new. The photovoltaic (PV) effect was discovered in 18th century France, promoted by Germany's Werner von Siemens, and developed as a workable product by our own Bell Labs in 1954. But it was pioneers like Peter Varadi, with the appropriate initials "PV," who created the modern solar PV industry. (In this blog I'll occasionally profile solar leaders, but only those I've had the privilege of knowing personally.)

Recently, Greenpeace did more to help stop climate change than all the heads of state gathered in Italy at the G8 summit. While Greenpeace USA executed a daring banner drop on Mt. Rushmore (video), the Group of Eight failed in their negotiations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and instead only produced more hot air on the subject.

Thirty years ago, when I was handling PR at the newly-formed Office of Energy Conservation and Solar Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, we released a TV public service announcement called "Master of the Sun (video)." It featured a Ponca Indian poet high on a Colorado mountain talking with his young son: "Since the beginning, the American Indian has valued the power of the sun," he intones. Against pretty visuals he tells his son what the sun can do for us, then concludes as the music crescendos: "The sun is power. The sun is security. The sun is your future. The sun is available now and forever."