The prize? $10,000 per finalist, and $15,000 for the winner. However, all entries will be made public, so entrants should consider that they're essentially open-sourcing their idea. On the other hand, Dell said that it would not claim any rights over the submitted designs, meaning they will genuinely be used to help the community.

If the design concept sounds a little vague, it is. It's not entirely clear what Dell's looking for. On the other hand, this is a perfect opportunity to do some out-of-the-box thinking. If you're interested, however, some of the entry rules provide some clues.

Entries will be judged by a professional jury. Here's what they're looking for:

DESIGN SOLUTION: Aesthetics as well as a sensitivity to form follows function. The design must not only be visually appealing but be purposeful in its form factor and highly usable by the intended users.

INNOVATIVENESS: What is the big idea relating to green computing technology? How profound is the idea and how innovative is the solution from a green computing technology product design perspective?

GREEN COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY CONSIDERATIONS: How well did the design solution address each of the various Green Computing Technology Considerations listed on the Website?

FEASIBILITY & CONCEPT VALIDATION: How realistic is it? Can it be manufactured in the near term or long term under green manufacturing constraints? Did the entrant do a sufficient amount of investigation regarding what is possible from a functional and manufacturing perspective? Are the research sources cited, varied, and valid? Did the entrant provide proper citations and credit for research and intellectual property referenced?

UTILIZATION OF GREEN ASSESSMENT TOOLS: Did the entrant make good use of assessment tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and other green validation and product development process tools that provide guidelines and standards for current thinking and current regulation for environmental product designs and manufacturing?

DOCUMENTATION OF PROCESS & METHODOLOGY: How well has the entrant captured the process of creating the final design solution?

PRESENTATION: Has the entrant effectively presented the concept? Are entry materials neat and well-organized? Has the entrant made effective use of visualization tools? How well did the entrant communicate the ideas and solution using text and imagery? How well did the entrant make use of media to express ideas?

Designs can be submitted as .doc; .pdf; .jpg; .wmv; and .mov. files, so the contest appears to allow some flexibility in ideas as well as formats. The contest entry period ends April 2, 2008.

(Incidentally, the image comes from Homegrown Hydroponics, which describes this PC greenhouse in amazing detail, including the use of PC fans to circulate air. It even criticizes the competition (there's competition?!). Your Halloween special price? $650.)