Solyndra may not be a player in the solar market anymore, but it’s making new headlines with its latest lawsuit against Chinese companies, which it says have colluded to sell solar panels at below cost and drive competitors out of business. Read more »
After making a public appeal for investors, MiaSole has found a suitor in Hanergy, a large renewable energy company in China that just bought another solar equipment maker in Germany. The $30M sales prices of MiaSole shows how cheap solar manufacturing assets can be picked up. Read more »
GE was set to become a major solar manufacturer when it announced a 400 MW factory in Colorado last year. Over a year later, though, it’s putting that plan on hold for 18 months or more while it works on coming up with more competitive technology. Read more »
Developing biofuels continues to be a bright spot in the cleantech world. Two startups, plant genetic engineering company Chromatin and biofuel producer ZeaChem, announced separately on Tuesday that they have raised new rounds of funding. Read more »
Roughly a month after securing a federal loan to build its first solar farm in the U.S., SolarReserve has raised $27 million in equity, according to a government filing. The company will need the funds to complete the solar power plant and work on additional projects. Read more »
This week’s gathering of the solar industry in Dallas at a conference will become a temporary central command for solar energy advocates who see an urgent need to fight back against negative public sentiment about solar that resulted from Solyndra’s federal loan and bankruptcy. Read more »
Solyndra’s bankruptcy has shined a harsh spotlight on a federal loan guarantee program, and that spotlight now includes a company that’s in better financial health than Solyndra. First Solar announced Thursday it won’t get a billion-dollar loan guarantee for a California solar project. Read more »
The largest residential rooftop in the U.S. history is coming. Energy Secretary Steve Chu announced its arrival on Wednesday with a partial guarantee of a $344 million loan to put solar panels on military housing and other buildings over the next five years. Read more »
Yet another massive solar thermal farm in the California desert is ditching the thermal part and opting for solar panels. Solar Trust, which has been developing a 1 GW solar farm in California, announced it will use panels instead and give up $2.1B of federal help. Read more »
There will be no loan guarantee for recently public biofuel company KiOR, at least this year. According to correspondence with the SEC, KiOR put its application for 2011 on hold in May, with plans to roll it over to 2012 — assuming the program gets funded for 2012. Read more »
Poet’s so-called “Project Liberty” biofuel plant, which will use corn waste instead of edible corn, is getting some support from the U.S. government. On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced it will offer Poet a $105 million loan guarantee to build out Project Liberty in Iowa. 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 »
After a week of announcing five loan guarantees for solar projects, the Department of Energy is turning the spotlight on wind energy, on Tuesday, announcing the backing of a $135.76 million loan for a wind farm in New Hampshire. Read more »
Calisolar has become the fourth solar manufacturer to receive a federal loan guarantee offer. The company, which turns lower-grade silicon into purer version for making solar cells, is set to use the $275 million loan guarantee to help build a factory in Ohio, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday. Read more »
Sempra Generation will join the pantheon of solar power plant developers who’ve gotten government aid. The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday announced an offer for a $359.1 million loan guarantee to Sempra to build a 150 MW project in Arizona. 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 »
Solar cell developer Suniva , which recently decided to suspend effort to secure a federal loan guarantee for a new factory, has raised about $94.4 million in equity out of a $115 million goal, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read more »
Close to three dozen CEOs of clean power companies — from First Solar to SunPower to Nanosolar — are pleading with congressional leaders to save the funding for the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program. Read more »
Geothermal energy has long been touted as a good alternative to fossil fuel-based power plants because it’s able to generate power around the clock. A project in Oregon is underway, and the DOE has finalized a $96.8 million loan guarantee for U.S. Geothermal. Read more »
