Save Money, Go Solar

For the last fifty years, we've been told by serious men in white lab coats that solar power is right around the corner and before you know it, we'll all get free electricity from the sun.

That sounds good, but here's the reality: Jumping into solar power pretty much meant you were an electronic hobbyist, an off-the-grid new-ager or a space shuttle engineer. The technology -- led by the so-called photovoltaic, or PV, cells that convert the sunlight to electricity -- wasn't ready for prime time.

At least until now. PV technology has improved dramatically, installing a solar system has become simpler and having a bunch of black panels on your roof no longer sends the signal "I'm delusional," but rather "I care about global warming and my wallet" -- things readers of my new book The Millionaire Zone care about.

So when Google (GOOG Quote), a company with cash in the bank, hippies in the finance department and a corporate mantra of "do no evil," decides to build the largest corporate solar power system in the world at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, it isn't a tough decision. ...