It’s been painfully apparent that many of the well-funded startups building next-gen solar tech have yet to ship solar panels in any large volumes and have missed their targets. And even the folks in the solar industry are starting to take each other to task. Read More »
Cleantech
A 1 GW solar farm in California whose fate was in limbo for a while is finally moving forward: Solar Millennium has sold it to Solarhybrid, which will change the technology for the project from concentrating solar thermal to photovoltaic panels. Read More »
The failure rate of developers to fulfill their renewable energy contract in California has historically been around 30-40 percent, but that failure rate is expected to come down now that utilities are seeing better prepared and managed projects — and more developers who are in the… Read More »
Markus Beck, the former head of First Solar’s now shuttered next-gen solar tech project, is looking to keep his dream alive and develop a new process to make thin film solar panels. Given the state of the market, it could be a tough play. Read More »
First Solar has broken its own record. The company announced Tuesday that it’s able to produce a thin-film solar panel that can convert 14.4 percent of the sunlight that hits it into electricity. The new record exceeds the 13.4 percent it achieved last year. Read More »
Solar service provider Sungevity under went some serious expansion in 2011 as it began to target the East Coast and overseas, and lined up Lowe’s as an investor and partner. Now following that growth, the startup has started raising a new funding round of $40.8 million. Read More »
Solar tech companies have suffered in 2011, and a speedy recovery in 2012 doesn’t seem likely. But the market holds huge potential for growth, and this dark time shall pass. Here is our look at solar trends to watch for in 2012. Read More »
First Solar has had enough with subsidized solar markets and will bet its future on sales in countries in which solar companies that can provide low-priced equipment and engineering services will make money and stay in business, company executives said Wednesday. Read More »
While 2011 will be remember as a troubling year for solar manufacturers, it also is a year when major U.S. power companies such as Duke, MidAmerican and Exelon took a plunge into investing and owning solar power plants. Read More »
Warren Buffet’s power company, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, is jumping into solar power and plans to buy up a massive solar farm from First Solar. The planned 550 MW solar panel farm called Topaz is in San Luis Obispo County in central California. Read More »
The California Energy Commission is scheduled to consider whether to take on the role of licensing photovoltaic power plants, an authority that usually rests with local governments such as counties and cities. The decision could greatly expand its authority to shape the state’s solar energy… Read More »
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