Economic stimulus could include green-collar jobs

I've become an inventor. I have a patent pending on a more efficient solar greenhouse. The goal is to grow ripe tomatoes in January in New England without fuel. The greenhouse concentrates sunlight through a relatively small set of windows, and at night those same small windows lose at least 80% less heat than a normal greenhouse. The greenhouse also solves heat storage problems cheaply.

The greenhouse should drop the price of growing summer vegetables all year in the frost belt by 75%, and will have a payback period of 4 or 5 years. Our scale model prototype ran last winter, and we recorded acceptable scale model results. I want to build one or two full-sized working greenhouses this fall with friends, assuming that we can get cash and/or volunteers. One of the greenhouses would grow vegetables for sale, the other would grow algae for biofuels.

Now let me tell you about reality. First, I invented a greenhouse because no zoning inspector in the Northeast would let me build a house first. Also, a tiny prototype greenhouse is cheaper to build than a prototype house. After the principle is proven, we can go on to low cost heat for affordable housing.

I see an enormous market in transit inventions. However, there is no money whatsoever in improving transit. Crash tests for any improvement often cost $100 million. Dean Kamen took the challenge, invented the Segway Scooter and brought it to market at a cost of $100 million, and so far has lost his shirt.

I'd also like to drive down the cost of solar electricity in the California desert to 2 cents per kwh, (I get 0.75 cents per kwh but I want to be conservative) but my entry fee for that project is at least $10 million that I don't have.

What I find in general is that American inventors need to eat and that inventors are often robbed of their life's work. See, for example, the movie "Flash of Genius". The only reason that the country doesn't have lots of green jobs for construction workers is because the country doesn't have lots of green jobs for inventors. When you get into reality, Henny Penny the inventor has to be her own patent lawyer. Then Henny Penny the inventor has to be her own banker. Then Henny Penny has to be a business whiz. Imagine if every green job construction laborer had to be her own lawyer, banker and businessperson too.