Software tools are becoming more important –and attracting more investments — with the greater use of clean power gear, from solar and wind devices to batteries for energy storage. Here’s a look at 6 software opportunities, from energy forecasts to performance monitoring to marketing and sales. Read more »
Use data, analytics and mapping to help more solar panels get installed on more rooftops — that’s the idea behind startup Geostellar, which this week closed on almost $14 million in equity funding and options. Read more »
Ditch the hardware and embrace big data and analytics — that could be the key to monitoring and managing energy consumption of commercial buildings. On Thursday startup FirstFuel Software announced that it’s raised $2.4 million from Battery Ventures and Nth Power, to scale up. Read more »
Big data and Platform-as-a-Service offerings highlighted the second quarter, suggesting that we can expect to see a shift in enterprise IT practices around application development and analytics very soon. On the PaaS front, we saw new projects like DotCloud and Cloud Foundry gain incredible momentum in just a few short months. The big-data activity ranged from major new Hadoop vendors to heavy investment in flash storage that will speed the serving of data to processing engines. In other areas, we saw an uptick in cloud-computing plans from large vendors, OpenStack continued to mature and pick up both contributors and users, and Facebook caught our eye by launching an open-source project around the designs for its specialized servers and data centers. Additional companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Salesforce.com, IBM, Heroku and Calxeda. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A startup offering Groupon-style group discounts for solar panel roof installations is now looking to connect with potential solar customers nationwide. Read more »
Big data tools are an incredibly important way to help better manage the world’s resources, like energy consumption, food production and fuel use. Here are 5 companies that are leveraging big data to help the planet: Read more »
Solar rooftops only work in specific environments — an area with enough sun, or a roof with the right tilt — and a company called Geostellar is using big data tools to help its solar installer customers deliver more solar in places where it actually makes economic sense. Read more »
