The city of Glendale, Arizona, could be one of the first in the U.S. to get a next-gen plant that gasifies trash and turns it into electricity. The tech is decades old, and popular in Europe, but new plants are not commonly built in the U.S. Read more »
California regulators approved some — but not all — of the power contracts that Southern California Edison wants to have with BrightSource Energy in a compromise that they say will provide the state’s residents with more affordable solar power in the run long. Read more »
A Department of Energy loan guarantee program that has attracted unwanted attention through its Solyndra deal is ending today, and the DOE is marking the occasion by finalizing billions of dollars of loan guarantees to First Solar, SunPower and Prologis. Read more »
Adding energy storage is becoming vogue for concentrating solar thermal power projects, particularly when it’s facing intense pressure to reduce costs. BrightSource Energy said Wednesday it, too, will offer an energy storage option to its power plant design. Read more »
As key programs from the stimulus package draw to a close, we look at how wind and solar power plant projects compete for same pots of money. The scores: solar gets more loan guarantees while wind gets more grants. Read more »
A large solar power panel farm is set to rise near Las Vegas, Nevada with the help of a federal loan guarantee program. The DOE on Thursday announced a $45.6M conditional loan guarantee offer to Fotowatio Renewable Ventures to build a 20 MW solar project. Read more »
Power gear giants continue their smart grid shopping spree. Schneider Electric is bidding to buy software maker Telvent for about $2 billion. The acquisition would give Schneider, which is a massive power equipment maker, more software and IT capabilities for the power grid. Read more »
Here is another lucky winner of a federal loan guarantee program: The U.S. Department of Energy is offering a conditional loan guarantee of $737 million to SolarReserve for building an 110MW power plant in Nevada, the DOE said Thursday. Read more »
A whole lot has changed since we rounded up the solar farms that are planned for the deserts of California and Arizona, from farms changing hands, to the DOE handing out loan guarantees. Here’s 7 of the solar farms that are being built in Southwestern deserts. Read more »
The rumor has become reality: BrightSource Energy, which is heavily backed by private and public money for its concentrating solar thermal technology, on Friday filed for an initial public offering to raise $250 million. Read more »
At a packed room at a solar factory, Department of Energy Chief Steven Chu announced that the DOE has awarded a conditional commitment for a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to a solar farm that will be built by SunPower and owned by power company NRG Energy. Read more »
BrightSource Energy has upped its latest fundraising goal from $100 million last December to $125 million and plans to use the money for both the U.S. projects and international expansion, the company’s spokesman, Keely Wachs, told us Tuesday. Read more »
Greentech marked its best year ever in 2010, and part of that is thanks to the wealth of activity across sectors during the fourth quarter. Global investment in clean energy surged, and while wind power remained the biggest greentech area, solar power saw the fastest growth. The energy efficiency sector appears to have more room for smaller players to make their mark amidst a rapidly maturing market. Meanwhile, China’s stance as a growing greentech giant continued to complicate its relationship with the United States. Companies mentioned in this report include General Electric, Intel, ZigBee, iControl, People Power and EnerNOC. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Following on the heels of the Obama administration’s plan to streamline the DOE’s loan guarantee program, the DOE has given final approval to its largest clean power loan guarantee to date: a $1.45 billion guarantee for a solar thermal project in Arizona built by Abengoa Solar. 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 »
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 »
August is turning out to be a critical month for concentrating solar thermal developers. The California Energy Commission issued recommendations for not one, but three projects over the past week, for a whopping total of 1.6 GW. uire Read more »
Schott Solar’s announcement that it plans to halve its factory capacity for solar thermal equipment and will lay off 30 workers is a sobering reminder of some of the hurdles ahead for this emerging industry (or re-emerging, depending on your perspective). Read more »
Heat has long been the enemy of solar cells — high temperatures can cook a cell and most cells aren’t set up to take advantage of the heat beating down from the sun. But not to a group of Stanford researchers. Read more »
In the second quarter of 2010, greentech startups scored record venture capital and increased spending despite a weak economy. Solar power retained its lead in greentech venture financing, while global investment for clean energy asset financing fell. China, meanwhile, underscored its rising might in the greentech industry, raising billions of dollars in green energy financing. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
