California regulators on Thursday essentially increase the amount of solar power generation that could qualify for net metering, but they left unresolved a contentious issue over whether people who don’t have solar or other renewable energy systems are subsidizing those who do. Read More »
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Ucilia Wang
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Investors may not be so keen to put money into solar manufacturing these days, but they are pumping quite a bit of money into the solar retail sector. Sunrun is benefitting from this investor sentiment and announced Wednesday that it’s raised a $60 million in equity. Read More »
After raising $230 million in venture capital and developing LED lighting components for a decade, Bridgelux in Livermore, Calif., is making a technology transition to drive down costs. The company is now counting on its partnership with Toshiba to make this transition a success. Read More »
The ability to predict energy use and do something about it will become more important as businesses look for ways to reduce costs and use energy more efficiently. A startup called GridNavigator has launched a cloud-based service that performs energy consumption forecasts throughout the day. Read More »
The federal government’s decision yesterday to slap fairly hefty tariffs on Chinese solar panels has prompted worries about a big rise in costs for consumers to go solar. But the impact will not likely be as significant for two reasons. Read More »
Gen110 started out as a solar sales and marketing company in 2009, and now it plans to add other residential energy services and has lined up Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as an investor to help its expansion, Gen110 said Thursday. Read More »
A123 Systems was supposed to be a success story about an innovative U.S. battery company, but it has struggled to live up to that expectation. The company on Tuesday posted lower revenues and greater losses for the first quarter of this year, about two months after … Read More »
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China likes to do things on a grand scale, which allows it serve its vast population spreading out in huge regions and brag about its technical advancements. Here comes another one: the country is now building a transmission line with a whopping 800-kilovolt of capacity that … Read More »
Two months ago we asked whether utilities should invest in solar manufacturing because Pacific Gas & Electric was proposing to do just that. The answer from California regulators, who were divided over the issue, was “no” as they voted 3-2 to deny the request on Thursday. Read More »
Microsoft is joining a growing number of tech companies that want to do something about their growing carbon emissions due to power hungry data centers and office buildings. The software giant on Tuesday announced a plan to become carbon neutral by fiscal year 2013 (this July). Read More »
Azure Power will be building one of India’s first megawatt-scale rooftop solar projects that will put solar panels on dozens of rooftops and share revenues from power sales with building owners. Read More »
Electric car charging network owner Coulomb Technologies has lined up $47.5 million to expand its reach during a year when more new electric vehicle models are showing up. Read More »
Japan plans to close its last nuclear reactor this weekend, a move that will take nuclear power out of its energy supply for the first time since 1966. Among those who will celebrate that will be solar companies as Japan gets ready to boost its … Read More »
Solar bellwether First Solar has two pieces of big news out of its earnings on Thursday: a new CEO with deep experience with conventional power and a new 5-year plan to transform the company into a power plant developer. Read More »
San Diego-based EcoATM wants to make for electronic recycling convenient and even rewarding (with cash!), and the idea has enabled it to raise a B round of about $17 million to expand its reach nationwide. Read More »
An 180-mile drive takes me through the farm belt of California to Coalinga, where Chevron runs an old oil field that uses steam to boost its production. It operates a demonstration project, completed last fall, that uses sun’s energy instead of natural gas to produce steam. … Read More »
Solar startups have been a favorite target for Korean conglomerates looking to boost clean power investments. TenKsolar certainly has caught the attention of one of them, Hanwha, which just led a series B round of $15.5 million the companies said Wednesday. Read More »
Here is a wild idea: mining energy materials for batteries, fuel cells and other electronic devices from asteroids. Except that is exactly the plan announced by a startup on Tuesday that counts Larry Page and Eric Schmidt as investors. Read More »
India is testing out an idea that marries solar panels with irrigation canals and conserves land and water. Read More »
The car culture we live in calls for us to go to gas stations to refuel, but the car culture we will see in a few decades may involve a far more decentralized approach to filling up the tanks. Read More »
A solar-powered loo prompts us to wonder where else can solar cells go to produce and promote clean power use. See our list of 8 places where solar cells make a good source of power. Read More »
Is it a good idea to divert money from California’s climate change program to help finance a high-speed railway that may not be a great way to reduce the state’s emissions? Read More »
After nearly two years, a Google-backed geothermal startup, AltaRock Energy, is finally getting the permit for a demonstration project in Oregon to show its novel technology does work. Read More »
The Indian state of Gujarat — a hot bed of solar power development over the past year — will throw a big party on Thursday to celebrate the commissioning of 600 MW of solar energy projects over just one year. Read More »
SunPower, whose fight for survival forced it to find a new owner and embark on a significant cost-reduction plan, said on Monday that it will stop producing cells at one of its factories to save money. Read More »
Why did BrightSource Energy nix its IPO plan and did it so last minute on Wednesday night? We offered some likely reasons why timing is awful for the solar company to make its public market debut. Read More »
It’s not meant to be after all. Solar power plant developer BrightSource Energy, plans to withdraw its plan to go public because of poor market conditions, the company said Wednesday night. Read More »
Brightsource Energy could go public as early as Thursday on the Nasdaq, and with that move the solar power plant developer will be making history. Read More »
In the wake of one of the world’s largest nuclear power disasters in history last year in Japan, the country is re-thinking its energy policy and looking to provide incentives to boost clean power starting this July. Our charticle: Read More »
The solar death spiral has been long and ugly. Over the past year, there have been over a dozen stalwarts and startups that have headed to bankruptcy court. Here’s our chart: Read More »
Nevada has tried very hard to attract solar energy investments and one of its latest efforts is both grandly ambitious and peculiar: Chinese energy company ENN Group promises to invest $5 billion to build a solar panel factory, a solar power plant, and an “eco-community.” Read More »
Intel is betting that sensors will play a greater role in the city of the future to help manage and use resources, from water and power to communication and transportation systems, much more efficiently. Read More »
Q-Cells was once the largest solar cell maker in the world. Now the company says on Monday it’s filing for bankruptcy, which makes it the latest example of an industry turmoil that has forced many other manufactures out of the business as well. Read More »
Now that solar inverter maker Enphase Energy has ended a solar IPO drought by making its public market debut on Friday, it’s time to look at how well the investors did, at least on paper. Read More »
Enphase Energy will become the first solar company to go public on the U.S. market since the fall of 2010, when its stock begins trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the symbol ENPH. Read More »
Stuart Bernstein, the head of the clean energy group at Goldman Sachs, showed up at Cleantech Forum in San Francisco to talk about the IPO market, and his message to startups and investors was: hang in there. Read More »
Starting a electricity retailer doesn’t sound like an easy thing to do, but startup Ethical Electric is setting out to do that – but without needing to building and operating distribution lines. Read More »
The kind of flat solar mirrors that BrightSource Energy is erecting in California’s Mojave Desert run 7.2 meters by 10.5 meters. The kind that Saul Griffith is working on stretches all 5 centimeter by 5 centimeter and sit on trackers that are no taller than a … Read More »
SolarCity isn’t content with being just an installer of solar panels on rooftops. The company, which reportedly has plans to go public, has expanded beyond solar to a broader set of energy-related services, including upgrading air conditioners and insulating air ducts. Read More »
Three environmental group on Monday filed suit against the federal government over a proposed solar farm in California, contending that the government has failed in its duty to ensure the project would not pose a significant harm to wildlife. Read More »
The inaugural PV America West solar trade show, which took place in San Jose amid a big trade dispute involving Chinese manufacturers, offered novel solar equipment designs and robotic technology as well as an interesting mix of marketing and politics. Read More »
Chevron Energy Solutions and political dignitaries gathered on Thursday to unveil a microgrid at a county jail east of San Francisco that features solar, wind, fuel cell and a lithium-ion battery system. The equipment generates and bank power to keep the jail self-sustaining for up to … Read More »
Royal Dutch Shell CEO, Peter Voser, says energy efficiency technology is a must-have to help feed a world with a growing appetite for energy, but the same can’t be say for alternative energy sources such as wind and solar. Read More »
The first big decision for a trade complaint against Chinese solar manufacturers is in: the U.S. government announced Tuesday it plans to impose tariffs on silicon solar cells and panels from China as a way to offset the unfair subsidies the manufacturers have received from the … Read More »
Clean energy will drive the next wave of economic growth, and will be the first development mechanism in the U.S. since we won the Cold War, said retired General Wesley Clark during a keynote at solar conference PV America West in San Jose Monday. Read More »
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