China, finally, emerging as big market for solar demand
Suntech, the largest solar manufacturer in China if not the world in terms of production capacity, saw 22 percent of its sales in the third quarter of this year from China. Read more »
Disappointing solar earnings across the board
Solar makers continue to struggle in 2011 with weak third quarter earnings, as the price of solar panels has dropped by 40 percent and important European markets have cut subsidies. Solar companies Suntech, JA Solar, LDK Solar and Canadian Solar all issued disappointing earnings. Read more »
10 things to be thankful for in greentech this year
As you sit down to your sustainably raised turkey dinner this year, it’s a good time to think about the things that have gone well for greentech in 2011. Yes, there have been clouds for the industry, but there have been quite a few milestones, too. Read more »
On the ground with clean power in India
Vineeth Vijayaraghavan is the founder and editor of a site focused on cleantech in India, Panchabuta, and here’s what he’s been watching, reading, and writing about this week: Read more »
Pump up the energy storage
If we adopt solar and wind as major components of our energy infrastructure, we have to solve the energy storage problem in a big way. Here, we will take a peek at pumped hydro and evaluate what it can do for us. Read more »
OPINION: Jumbo-sized solar is a jumbo-sized mistake
The article this weekend on the front page of The New York Times, “A Gold Rush of Subsidies in the Search for Clean Energy,” clearly underscores why the U.S. should phase-out all permanent and long-term subsidies for energy. Read more »
Our Pearl Harbor moment for solar is coming
There will soon be enough solar projects globally to drive economies of scale to reach our Pearl Harbor moment in solar. That moment won’t be the end, but will start the first war for control of the power sector in 100 years. Read more »
How solar can make data centers more efficient
Paring solar with data centers may not be a novel idea, but you will have a hard time finding companies that rely solely on solar electricity to power their servers. But what if the use of solar could help data center owners save energy? Read more »
A surprising early investor in Nanosolar: Reid Hoffman
When PayPal went public in 2002, then executive vice president Reid Hoffman, spent some of his winnings on investing in an early round of Silicon Valley’s first solar thin film startup Nanosolar. Will the investment ever pay off? Read more »
10 things that sold at Solyndra’s auction
Bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra held a two-day auction for part of its assets last week in an attempt to recoup some of its losses, and reportedly drew thousands of people looking for both bargains and gear with Solyndra logos. Here’s 10 things that were bought. Read more »
First Solar: Boosting production is a bad idea
Solar manufacturers have been on supercharged expansion mode over the past five years in order to cut costs and solar prices. But to continue that march at this point is just unwise. First Solar is now putting off bringing online a solar panel factory in Vietnam. Read more »
Facebook turns to solar for heat and power
Facebook plans to build a solar system on the rooftop of its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., from startup Cogenra Solar that will generate both electricity and heat. Read more »
On the ground with clean power in India
Power companies in India are funding both solar and wind as a way to add more power generation, as many areas in India are facing blackouts. Vineeth Vijayaraghavan watches cleantech in India closely, and here’s what he’s been reading this week. Read more »
What utilities really think about solar
Here’s a snapshot of what utilities really think about solar: it’s still too expensive but more consumers are starting to want it (but not necessary willing to pay for it). How can we get more utilities to invest in solar? Read more »
Facebook’s Swedish data center mostly powered by clean energy
Facebook officially announced the data center that it’s building in the chilly climate of Lulea, Sweden, and it’s going to be powered “primarily from renewables.” No, not solar or wind but hydropower (water and dams), which is still the cheapest kind of clean power. Read more »
Apple building solar farm for data center
Apple has been laying plans for a solar farm next to its massive data center in Maiden, N.C., according to The Charlotte Observer. The solar project will reportedly be built across the street from its $1 billion data center that will partly serve Apple’s iCloud. Read more »
First Solar CEO is out, stock tanks
It’s been a rocky couple of months for solar companies, but First Solar just hit an unexpected hurdle. The thin-film solar darling announced that Rob Gillette will no longer serve as its CEO, and Chairman and Founder Mike Ahearn will step in as interim CEO. Read more »
Silevo unveils hybrid solar cell tech, Chinese factory
Are there still opportunities for tech innovation for solar cells, now that solar panels are rapidly becoming commoditized? California startup Silevo thinks it has a shot with a hybrid solar cell design and a plan to build its first factory in China. Read more »
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Green IT Q3: Solar stumbles while car sharing zooms ahead
The trials and tribulations of the solar industry dominated the third quarter as warnings about a storm of dangerous market forces in the industry finally reached an outcome with Solyndra’s bankruptcy. But not all was dismal for the cleantech industry during the quarter. Car sharing continues to reduce resource consumption, and much capital flowed to that sector. On the data center side of the industry, Google provided insight into exactly how much energy the tech giant uses, as well as the carbon footprint of its data centers. Companies mentioned in this report include Solyndra, Zipcar, Airbnb and Silver Spring Networks. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Valley couple gets the spotlight via Solyndra
The ongoing investigations into the email exchanges among now-defunct solar maker Solyndra, Department of Energy officials and the White House continue, and they lead to an unusual link between Solyndra’s law firm and a DOE official that pushed for the Solyndra loan: a married couple. Read more »
In wake of Solyndra, DOE Loan Chief to step down
As the failure of now-defunct solar panel maker Solyndra continues to make headlines, the Department of Energy’s Loan Chief Jonathan Silver plans to step down. Silver will become a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the think tank Third Way. Read more »
Steve Westly: Pretty good at predicting cleantech
Investors, including Steve Westly, cautioned the White House against visiting Solyndra’s factory, because the company seemed risky, according to emails. Read more »
Solar-powered oil recovery plant starts up [video, photos]
Chevron officially started up its solar-powered oil recovery facility in Coalinga, California on Monday. Here’s a video and photos of the plant, which uses tech from BrightSource. Read more »
Google invests $75M into Clean Power Finance solar fund
Google is investing millions of dollars into its second fund that will go toward installing solar panels on rooftops. On Tuesday Rick Needham, Google’s Director of Green Business Operations, announced that Google will invest $75 million into a solar fund for startup Clean Power Finance Read more »
Don’t be a solar PV efficiency snob
Physics professor Tom Murphy fights solar PV snobbery with his explanation of why 15 percent efficiency rates for solar panels is actually quite remarkable and not the real barrier to clean power. Read more »
Solyndra execs’ testimony: silence
The second congressional hearing on what happened with solar maker Solyndra concluded this morning, and Solyndra’s CEO and CFO aren’t talking. Right after CEO Brian Harrison and CFO Bill Stover were sworn in, they invoked their fifth amendment rights. Read more »
An exercise in galactic-scale energy
Follow physics professor Tom Murphy on an exercise in galactic energy that points out the absurdity that results from the assumption that we can continue growing our consumption of energy forever. Read more »
The dark side of solar and compensation tactics
On Thursday JinkoSolar issued a lengthy explanation of an environmental controversy surrounding its solar cell factory in China that led to a massive protest and plummeting share prices. The disclosure raises questions about what and how JinkoSolar should have disclosed this as a public company. Read more »
Solyndra execs to invoke the Fifth at hearing
Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison and CFO Bill Stover have decided not to answer any questions during an upcoming hearing on Friday and plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment in the face of questioning, the company announced late on Tuesday. Read more »
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What the Solyndra case says about the government and cleantech
A quick Google news search on Sunday of the term “Solyndra” produced 3,830 results, ahead of “Tom Cruise” (3,210) but still safely behind “Lady Gaga” (12,300). It’s fair to say that Solyndra’s bankruptcy and the ensuing congressional investigation into how Solyndra secured its loan guarantee has ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
When good tech ideas go bad
Sometimes tech trends end up disrupting huge industries, like when the idea of Skype and free web calls, collided with the phone companies. However, sometimes tech ideas have all the makings of these kind of disruptions but ultimately end up flaming out. Here’s why: Read more »
When green government awards aren’t a leg up
Greentech has been like few other sectors in terms of its high reliance on government support. But, at the same time, a variety of companies are finding that accepting government support can sometimes be the wrong choice. Read more »
Solyndra story makes The Daily Show
John Stewart brings you the Solyndra story in the true fashion of The Daily Show, proclaiming, “That custom-tailored Obama scandal you ordered is finally here.” To us in Silicon Valley, it shows just how big this story has gotten. Read more »
Solar struggles: Calisolar lays off 80
Solar silicon maker Calisolar is laying off about 80 employees in its Silicon Valley factory as part of its shift in business focus, the company said on Wednesday. The layoff represents about 23 percent of the company’s labor force globally. Read more »
Solyndra hearing: Did the loan restructuring break the law?
Was the restructuring of Solyndra’s loan earlier this year, which was done by the DOE and subordinated government funds to private investors funds, against the law? Republicans suggested as much during a hearing on Wednesday. Read more »
And now for the details: Solyndra files for bankruptcy
As expected, beleaguered solar startup Solyndra has officially filed for bankruptcy. The company’s rise and fall has turned into the clean power controversy of the summer and increasingly ugly details continue to emerge. Read more »
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Solyndra and the future of cleantech investing
When all was said and done, solar panel maker Solyndra raised over a billion dollars, making it No. 2 on the list of companies that have raised the most equity, according to a 2010 list from Dow Jones VentureWire. But unlike Facebook or MetroPCS, two other names on ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The under-the-radar hot solar markets for investors
Looking at the internal rates of returns (IRR), which basically considers the capital investment needed and determines how profitable an investment in a project will be, the top solar markets of tomorrow, according to Lux Research, will be: New Jersey, Portugal, Australia, Italy, and India. Read more »
How Apple could revolutionize solar
If Apple launched one of its gadgets with embedded solar cells, it could revolutionize the market for solar. Read more »
Calisolar ditches loan guarantee, lands in Mississippi
Solar silicon and cell maker Calisolar has ditched a $275 million federal loan guarantee to build a factory in Ohio, but the company still has a manufacturing plan. It says it has secured a $75.25 million package from Mississippi to locate its factory there. Read more »
