Twitter and solar may seem like strange bedfellows, but they both want something very badly: to convince the public that it can’t do with them. That was the gist of Twitter exec Biz Stone’s message at the stage at a solar conference in LA on Tuesday. Read more »
The solar industry will take over the LA Convention Center via the Solar Power International (SPI) event this week to showcase the latest technologies and discuss regulatory and financing trends. Here are five hot topics that you will no doubt hear about during the show: Read more »
Inverter maker Power-One has bought venture-backed Fat Spaniel Technologies, adding to a list of renewable energy acquisitions this year. The deal is necessary for Fat Spaniel which has endured a tough market. Read more »
LG Chem has won its first deal in the utility market — it will supply lithium-ion battery packs for a Southern California Edison energy storage project. Read more »
Cogenra has developed a concentrating PV system with a heat harvester to produce electricity and heat water. The company is one of a growing number of hybrid system developers vying for generous incentives from states such as California. Read more »
After some intense lobbying by solar energy advocates, White House is making room for solar. In a blog post, Energy Secretary Steve Chu said solar panels and a solar water heater system will rise from the White House roof by the end of the Spring. Read more »
While there are a lot easier ways to make solar cells, there’s not as many as bizarre as this one: squishing up jelly fish. Out of Sweden, researchers have discovered a way to use a protein from a common jellyfish to create a solar cell. Read more »
There’s been a lot of high-fiving among energy storage technology developers about a bill signed into law by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week. However, the bill doesn’t mandate energy storage, which means it’s far from determined which technologies and players will be the big winners. Read more »
Intel has made no secret of its ambition for a fat slice of the home energy management market, but here’s the chip maker’s official play: a hardware design blueprint based on its Atom chip for any manufacturer that wants to build and sell home energy monitoring devices. Read more »
Algae fuel is likely decades from powering our vehicles, which is one of the reasons that federal lawmakers already are focusing on tax breaks for companies in the field. Yesterday the House passed a bill that gives $1.01 per gallon tax credit to algae fuel producers. Read more »
PVT Solar, which is developing a way to capture heat from a solar-panel rooftop system for heating water and homes, has raised a series B round of $13.7 million and also brought in a new CEO, Vikas Desai, the company plans to announce Tuesday. Read more »
Solar thermal player BrightSource has raised another $26 million of its previously raised round, and reportedly has moved closer to an IPO by hiring Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Will the solar thermal leader hit the public markets in 2011? Read more »
The federal Bureau of Land Management will be stamping its final approval on a series of giant solar energy projects in California over the next two months, marking 2010 as the year when the state allows its desert to bloom with mirrors to produce electricity. Read more »
Why develop your own project pipelines when you can just buy them? That seems to be a strategy among large solar electric equipment manufacturers such as Sharp, which announced Tuesday its plan to buy Recurrent Energy for about $305 million in cash. Read more »
A group of federal researchers have dived into a project to explore animal magnetism, except it’s not what you might think — it looks into the potential effects of electromagnetic fields on marine wildlife, and could become a key reference for any environmental impact review. Read more »
When Walmart decides to invest in emerging green technologies it offers considerable validation. That’s certainly the intention behind Walmart’s announcement that it will pay for solar electricity from installations that use thin film solar panels from MiaSole and First Solar and are installed by SolarCity. Read more »
Can the grid handle the growing flow of wind and solar that will come online in the next few years? According to California’s grid operator the answer is yes, but with a particular attention to energy storage policy. Read more »
Seaweed: great for sushi, skin care and … powering cars? Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) thinks so, and it announced Wednesday that it has lined up a Norwegian oil heavy weight, Statoil, to help it bring its technology to market. Read more »
It should come as no surprise that the recently launched California incentive program to promote solar water heaters has led to a boom. SunReports, for one, on Wednesday unveiled a package of monitoring device and service for solar hot water systems designed for business customers. Read more »
Intel has taken up a patriotic cause this year, paying special attention to promising U.S.-based companies. The company announced four software and chip companies that have collectively received over $30 million from its Intel Capital Invest in America Technology Fund, including an energy software maker. Read more »
Lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems officially opened up its stimulus money-funded battery factory in Michigan, which will eventually reach 600 megawatt hours of annual production capacity, and, according to the company, represents the largest lithium ion battery plant for electric vehicles in the U.S. Read more »
SunEdison said Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a provincial government in South Korea to install 400 megawatts of solar panels, a sizable project considering the country’s market shrank dramatically following a cut in incentives. Read more »
BrightSource Energy is close to securing approval from the California Energy Commission for its first commercial project to build a solar thermal power plant, and it’s lined up a hefty federal loan guarantee. Is it time for it to go public? Read more »
Solaria, whose technology uses lenses to concentrate sunlight onto solar cells in order to boost electricity generation, said Wednesday it has raised an additional $20 million for its previously announced Series D round of financing. Read more »
Can solar module producer Oerlikon inject new enthusiasm into amorphous silicon thin film technology, which until now has struggled to compete in cost and efficiency? The Swiss company hopes to do so with the launch Tuesday of a new line of factory equipment. Read more »
After years of talking about flexible, light-weight solar thin film material that can drape over roofs, manufacturers are finally starting to deliver. SoloPower is announcing on Tuesday that its first flexible solar panel has gotten UL certification, which is required for installation in many U.S. regions. Read more »
Picking winners and losers is always a dicey exercise, but Lux Research took that plunge and issued a report this week, which points to likely revenue winners and IPO candidates over the coming year. The names that popped out include Amonix, Enphase Energy and Abound Solar. Read more »
Propel Fuels, a startup trying to create a brand around alternative fuels, held a grand opening at a biofuel station in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday and announced a plan to add 75 new stations in California by the end of 2011. Read more »
Global Solar on Tuesday unveiled its new flexible solar panel that can be integrated into roofing membranes. The idea is that buildings and roofs can be built with the solar materials weaved right into them, lowering the cost and the time of the solar installation. Read more »
