Imagine these awnings (or a version thereof) attached to all sunny sides of buildings in Manhattan where the awnings not only provide cover from the sun and rain, but also produce power…..what about small solar panels or wind turbines that you plug in just like a small appliance?…..that’s the promise of a Seattle, Washington-based start-up that is working to provide renewable energy options — solar panels and wind turbines — for homes and small businesses. The panels cost as little as $600 and plug directly into a power outlet.

The company, Clarian Power, aims to be the first to bring a plug-in solar power system to the market, in 2011.

Clarian’s president, Chad Maglaque, says the company’s product is different from existing micro-inverters, which convert solar panels’ power into AC current. Maglaque says his system has built-in circuit protection, doesn’t require a dedicated electrical panel and plugs directly into a standard electrical outlet.

“Within the next 5 years, we will see a radical volume (think i-pod) of new, highly creative systems in New York real estate installed to create clean energy,” says Leonard Steinberg, managing director of Prudential Douglas Elliman and leader of the LUXURYLOFT team. “We have been touting these systems for years in LUXURYLETTER, the monthly newsletter on the goings on of luxury Manhattan real estate.”