Trotting out auto industry veteran and the former public face of Chevy Volt, Bob Lutz, as a spokesman, VIA Motors on Tuesday showed off its technology of converting conventional trucks, cargo vans and SUVs into hybrid electric vehicles and laid out production plans. Read More »
Cleantech
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 »
PG&E plans to start testing out home energy gadgets and software starting in March 2012 with a small group of customers, and the utility unveiled details of its plan this week. Here’s what you need to know. Read More »
Energy efficiency measures both reduce consumption and slow the pace of building power plants. Utilities know that, but how much are they doing to promote the idea? A report looks at 50 U.S. utilities and ranked them by the investments they have made in energy efficiency. Read More »
BrightSource Energy is still building its first solar farm, but the company already is steaming ahead with the third, 810 MW project called Rio Mesa, for which the company said Friday it has applied for approval from the California Energy Commission. Read More »
The solar market has been marked by falling profits and controversial federal government loans this year, but one bright spot is the growth of the residential and small commercial solar sector in which investors are setting up more funds to financial installations. Read More »
The race for more clean power has intensified in California, and utilities such as PG&E and San Diego Gas & Electric have been busy inking contracts to meet what is the toughest standard in the country. Read More »
Boulder plans to ask its voters to decide if it should form its own utility instead of relying on Xcel for electricity. The city says the move is for gaining more control over buying clean sources of power. Read More »
California regulators have approved a program, called virtual net metering, for residents who until now have been underserved by the state’s popular solar incentive program. Read More »
Silver Spring Network’s IPO filing is basically the first time we’ve been able to get a peek under the hood of the nine-year-old company, which has been a leader in the smart grid network industry. Here’s what you need to know from Silver Spring Network’s S-1. Read More »
Utility PG&E unveiled a tome (close to 300 pages) detailing the ins and outs of its smart grid plans on Thursday. Here is what you need to know from the report: Read More »
First Solar has become the biggest solar beneficiary of a federal renewable energy loan guarantee program. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced three loan guarantee offerings totaling roughly $3.73 billion for First Solar’s three photovoltaic power plants in California. Read More »
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