While analysts are warning the residential solar market will get hit by the credit crisis, First Solar said today it will invest $25 million into residential solar installer SolarCity and supply it with 100 megawatts of it thin-film solar modules. Read More »
RSS Feed
Craig Rubens
Recent Posts
The Daily Sprout
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 28, 2008, 5:30pm PT
Comments Off
Segway Maker Working on Better Electric Car: Dean Kamen estimates that he and his team have spent $40 million over the last 10 years working on a Stirling-electric hybrid vehicle. We just hope its more successful than his last “revolutionary” transportation invention – Telegraph. Weak Breezes … Read More »
Well over a year ago, the online video component of this election season kicked into high gear when an independent individual with some professional political advertising experience created a media frenzy with his “Hillary 1984″ ad, a repurposing of Apple’s Super Bowl commercial from … Read More »
EEStor, the stealthy startup whose Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU) could revolutionize the auto industry, has yet to show off a production version of its EESU. The Cedar Park, Texas-based startup said in 2007 that it would be in production by mid 2008. Then that … Read More »
Intel Capital says it has invested $20 million in Chinese thin-film solar provider Trony Solar, and has signed an agreement to invest in a large-scale electricity storage specialist in China NP Holdings Ltd. Read More »
From the people who brought you the bamboo computer come two new greener computers: a new desktop made partially out of recycled plastic water bottles, and Dell’s first thin-client computer, a minimalist PC designed to access remote apps and data. Recycled water bottles? That’s how Dell … Read More »
Election day is a week away, and voters have dozens of state and city propositions to acquaint themselves with before stepping into that voting booth. This year in California there are three state propositions that affect renewable energy and because they’re so important we decided to … Read More »
More Must Reads
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 27, 2008, 5:39pm PT
Comments Off
Ultracapacitor Startups to Charge Your Car: While many electric car makers are chasing the better battery, ultracapacitor startups are developing devices that allow for rapid recharge and can survive many charge cycles – VentureBeat. Report: Ocean Power Market to Hit $500M by 2015: Our buddies over … Read More »
Goldman Sachs recognizes that the new economy is a carbon-constrained one, and today the firm announced that it is taking an undisclosed stake in and partnering with emissions offsets developer Blue Source. Under the terms of the alliance, Goldman Sachs will structure and market … Read More »
The UK Department for Transport announced today that, as part of the country’s plan to reduce emissions, the government will be putting £100 million ($155 million) into electric car research, development and deployment. Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 25, 2008, 12:30pm PT
Comments Off
The economic turmoil continues to roil markets around the world, but it’s not clear yet what it will all mean for the developing cleantech industry. Last week we reported on layoffs and executive swaps at Tesla but the headlines this week were more positive. Better … Read More »
GE Aviation and NASA are teaming up to test an “open rotor” jet engine design that puts the fan blades on the outside of the engine, which they say could reduce jet fuel consumption by more than 30 percent. GE and NASA actually designed the engine … Read More »
A Suzlon wind turbine in Wyanet, Ill., had one of its 140-foot long blades break off this week (via Environmental Capital). The Indian turbine maker is still investigating this turbine failure but it appears to be related to the blade recall announced in … Read More »
As we’ve been mapping the shuttering of coal-powered projects here in the U.S., China has been opening, on average, 1.5 GW of coal power plants a week. Yesterday, we noticed a link: An $800 million coal-to-liquids plant planned for West Virginia was nixed due … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 23, 2008, 6:01pm PT
Comments Off
First Teaser Pic of Tesla’s Model S: Although the company just put development of its electric sedan on hold, much of the design work on the Model S was already done, and here’s a peak at what the back of the car looks like –
UPDATED: Duke Energy has decided to cut in half its $100 million distributed solar rooftop program after the utility was criticized during the permitting process by the Vote Solar Initiative and Wal-Mart, among others, the state Utility Commission over cost recovery … Read More »
The UK’s Carbon Trust, a publicly funded independent company, has launched the Algae Biofuel Challenge today. The project seeks to commercialize the use of algae biofuel by 2020. The Carbon Trust estimates the program will cost up to £30 million ($38.5$48.5 million) and … Read More »
Now that solar startup Solyndra has come out into the sun, we’re slowly getting more details on the company’s technology and business. Today Solyndra announced that it has signed a sales deal with German solar integrator GeckoLogic GmbH valued at $250 million. … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 22, 2008, 5:48pm PT
Comments Off
UN Wants Green New Deal to Save Economy: Ahead of the meeting of the world’s finance leaders at the Financing for Development – Doha Review Conference, the UN’s Environment Program says the solution to the global financial, fuel and food crises is in a clean energy … Read More »
Better Place announced this afternoon that it is heading Down Under to deploy its electric car infrastructure in Australia. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup is working with Australian utility AGL Energy to build an electric car charging grid powered by renewable energy. Macquarie Capital Group will … Read More »
PG&E Gives Away Solar to 25 Schools: The utility has selected 25 California schools to receive 1.3 kilowatt solar generation systems, valued at $25,000. PG&E also picked 9 schools to receive up to $5,000 in “Bright Ideas” grants for their innovative solar science projects. IndoctrinationInnovation starts … Read More »
LG Electronics said today that it will convert a decommissioned plasma panel display manufacturing plant to make silicon solar panels. LG says retooling the plant will cost 220 billion won ($168 million). Read More »
BlackLight Power, the company that has pulled in $60 million for its seemingly physics-defying fuel cell, is back with an announcement about an independent validation of its technology. A team of engineers, headed by Dr. Peter Jansson at Rowan University, have … Read More »
Google.org continues to dole out the dough, on Monday awarding a $250,000 grant to the U.S. National Academies for a cooperative U.S.-Chinese study on renewable electricity. The 18-month transnational study has three goals: Assess the potential of utility-scale renewable energy in China and the U.S. Explore … Read More »
Cobalt Biofuels has raised $25 million in Series C funding for its biobutanol production process. The Mountain View, Calif.-based biofuel startup plans to use the funding to accelerate the commercialization of its low-cost biochemical butanol production process. The round was led by LSP and … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 20, 2008, 5:51pm PT
Comments Off
GreenVolts Wins Grant for Low-Cost Solar: GreenVolts has won a $250,000 grant from the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research Program for its proposal on low-cost concentrating photovoltaics. This is the second grant GreenVolts has won from PIER – Press Release. Novomer Gets new CEO … Read More »
A new report from the International Energy Agency urges the world’s governments to invest $20 billion in near-term, full-scale carbon capture and storage demonstrations. Read More »
Another day, another promise from a large IT company that it will continue to “green” its operations. Today HP announced its plans to double the amount of renewable energy it uses to 8 percent by 2012. This latest goal is part of the company’s … Read More »
Craig Venter’s startup Synthetic Genomics has reportedly raised RM28.2 million, or $8 million, from Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group, which bought a million shares of the company. Read More »
Earth2Tech’s latest cleantech map pinpoints more than 5,000 jobs-worth of operating and planned wind manufacturing facilities in the U.S. Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 18, 2008, 12:30pm PT
Comments Off
The first ripples of the financial crisis are starting to be felt in the cleantech community. If the roller coaster on Wall Street captured you attention this week, we’ve got the cleantech headlines for you here. 10 Solar Startups to Watch at Solar Power International: The … Read More »
Adura Technologies announced yesterday that it has raised $5 million Series A round of funding for its wireless lighting management systems. VantagePoint Venture Partners led the round, which also included Claremont Creek Ventures. Read More »
On Monday the city of Oakland, and its Mayor Ron Dellums, plan to officially launch the Green Collar Jobs Corps program, which, with the help of Foster City, Calif.-based solar installer startup SolarCity, will provide training and employment opportunities for program graduates. Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 16, 2008, 5:30pm PT
Comments Off
UK Commits to Cutting Emissions 80% by 2050: The UK’s new energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband has committed the country to cutting its emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, the same goal Obama has proposed for the U.S. – Guardian. First Look … Read More »
First we had CRT displays, then LCDs, and now LEDs and OLEDs are making headway, but already an even newer display technology promises brighter, clearer screens that use even less power. It’s called electrowetting, and startup Liquavista has unveiled its new ColorBright displays … Read More »
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-billion clean technology initiative, has today taken a 20 percent stake in the London Array, the world’s largest planned offshore wind farm. When completed, the project will produce a full gigawatt of power. Read More »
Residential solar installer SolarCity is looking to differentiate itself from the herd of other installers serving homeowners in the West with its SolarGuard 2.0, an upgrade to its online monitoring service, and Canopy, a new panel mounting system. The Foster City, Calif.-based startup … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 15, 2008, 5:54pm PT
Comments Off
Real Goods Solar Merges with Regrid Power: Residential solar energy integrator Real Goods Solar has merged with Regrid Power, a solar installer located in Northern California. The shake out of the solar market continues – Press release. Presidential Debate “What If?” Prep: The good folks at … Read More »
It seems like we can find almost everything we need through Google Maps — even the best place to put a new wind farm or a solar power plant. Renewable energy prospectors can now assess potential sites with the click of a mouse using 3TIER’s … Read More »
Innovalight, a thin-film solar startup developing photovoltaic silicon ink, has received $5 million in debt financing from Leader Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank. The startup looks to be ramping up for production as it previously announced it had raised $5 million in equipment … Read More »
Today Apple unveiled its newest line of MacBook notebooks, and in addition to being the fastest and glassiest notebook yet, it’s Apple’s greenest computer ever. The entire line of MacBooks now meets Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental standards. The new MacBooks also … Read More »
By Craig Rubens
Oct. 14, 2008, 5:30pm PT
Comments Off
Silver Spring Networks Appoints CFO: Smart grid startup Silver Spring Networks today announced the appointment of Warren Jenson as Chief Financial Officer – Press Release. Wave Energy Device Successfully Tested: Researchers from OSU, Columbia Power Technologies and the U.S. Navy’s facilities engineering command are one step … Read More »
Soliant Energy, maker of rooftop concentrating photovoltaic systems, has raised almost $21 million in new venture capital, including $2.5 million from GE Energy Financial Services, the company announced today at the Solar Power International conference in San Diego. The financing will be used … Read More »
Foundation Capital will open the doors to its new green offices, decked out with technology from its cleantech portfolio companies, next Monday. The firm is pursuing LEED certification. Read More »
It takes more than 70 pages of tedious paperwork to get a residential solar system connected to the grid and properly rebated, residential solar installer Sungevity estimates. The Berkeley, Calif.-based startup is launching a campaign today to end this wasteful paper trail by asking … Read More »
Most Commented
Popular Now
Latest News
