Little Solar Houses For You And Me

"At first glance, nothing about the development seems out of the ordinary. The houses are pleasant one-story colonials with porches... But upon closer inspection, the development turns out to be more than just another housing project ... it is a testing ground for the affordable, zero-energy homes of the future... the family consumes roughly 25 kilowatts of electricity a day -- less than half the 60-kilowatt average in the U.S. And whether they intend to or not, the couple may be setting a lifestyle precedent for thousands, and perhaps millions, of others nationwide. Oak Ridge is working with the DOE to come up with a prototype house that, by 2010, will cost the same to build as a conventional middle-class home while being 50 to 70 percent more efficient and functioning as a net-zero-energy home (meaning it can produce as much energy per year as it consumes)."