Steven Strong
He used to be a "solar zealot." Those are Steven Strong's words. "Even back in the solar-crazy '70s," he says, "it was an open question if anyone could survive trying to sell houses that produce all the power they need through renewable energy sources."
It wasn't exactly a smooth ride, but survive he did. Along the way, Strong, 56, whose firm, Solar Design Associates, is based in Harvard, Mass., turned himself into one of the nation's foremost experts on solar buildings. His initial breakthrough came in 1980, when he found a manufacturer to build his "integrated" solar roof. The first of...