^{[image courtesy Inhabitat]}

Solar power: Scientists have been mucking about with it since the ’40s (at least), but photovoltaic energy still falls into the realm of novelty. So why hasn’t solar made it out of the dark ages already? The simple answer is: money and land. Sure, sunlight itself is free — but building a solar array costs $10,000 and requires 300 square feet just to get 1 kilowatt per hour (a kilowatt-hour averages 8.6 cents in the US).

Prototypes from the SunHopes project skirt the land issue by getting vertical — with energy-capturing balloons! Taking home the “Forward Thinking” award from the Re:Vision sustainable design competition, SunHopes’ 10-foot-wide balloons produce 1 kilowatt per hour while gracefully floating up out of everyone’s way. Better still, the project aims to minimize cost, with each balloon netting a target cost of $4,000 — a considerable bargain compared to the $10,000 it currently takes to build a solar field that produces the same amount of energy.

The price tag (not to mention the visibility) is probably too high for SunHopes to start littering suburbia with towering silver saucers just yet, but a wide array of niche applications — off-the-grid living, emergencies, naval operations — make this an interesting opportunity for solar power to gain a new foothold in the sky. [via Inhabitat]

By the time March rolls around, we New Englanders are through with merely being SAD — we’re exasperated. (Seriously; have you seen NH’s snowfall statistics?)

So, really, it’s no surprise that the New England Spring Flower Show is consistently packed to the gills with nearly 100,000 of the Northeast’s winter survivors, all straining to catch a glimpse of green to tide them over until the earth wakes up and starts blooming again. For this annual event, the Bayside Expo Center surreally transforms into a lush garden paradise.

Every year, the Flower Show takes on a new theme, and encourages its exhibitors to run wild with it. For 2008 (marking the 137th show), they chose “Rhapsody in Green,” a celebration of eco-friendly and sustainable horticulture. ” ‘Green’ doesn’t have to mean dull and practical,” exclaims the Mass Hort website. “This year, we’ll show the cutting-edge, sensual and colorful side of responsible gardening.” And the exhibitors delivered, filling the Bayside with battery-powered lawn mowers, solar-powered trash cans and rain gardens.

Here are the highlights. For the full image gallery, click here to view it at our Flickr page. (Note: If you enjoy this recap, stay tuned for our coverage of D2E Boston, which kicks off at the Hynes Convention Center next week. You might also want to check out our notes from our last trip to the Bayside, for Boston’s inaugural Going Green Expo.)

Upon entering the showroom, visitors were greeted by this massive metal spheroid made by sculptor Chris Williams.

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