First Solar shows improved Q3 earnings, amid CEO transition
A day after announcing an abrupt departure of its CEO, First Solar has some good news that is helping to stem the rapid dive of its stock: pretty good third quarter earnings. Read more »
Funding FAIL: The federal budget, politics and cleantech
Fighting for funding is a perennial, bloody sport for just about every federal agency. But the budget funding cycle is seriously out of whack with the development cycle for clean energy, according to Arun Majumdar, director of the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E). Read more »
Solar industry sounds battle cry
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 »
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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 »
Solar Millennium sells off massive solar project pipeline
Remember that gigawatt solar farm called Blythe in California that turned down a $2.1 billion federal loan guarantee? That project and 1.25 GW of other solar farm proposals are being sold by Solar Millennium to Solarhybrid, the two German companies said Thursday. Read more »
5 bets the DOE made that are better than Solyndra
It’s been over a month since the Solyndra news came out, but it’s still dominating. Because it just won’t go away, here’s my top five list of projects that the DOE also backed with loan guarantees and that are showing some early signs of success. 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 »
Chinese cleantech firms under spotlight for financial disclosure troubles
U.S-listed Chinese public companies are facing growing scrutiny for their accounting practices, and that investigation has extended to cleantech businesses as well. The latest example comes from A-Power Energy Generation Systems, a Chinese wind turbine maker. Read more »
11th hour DOE deals: 4 solar loan guarantees
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 »
Today in Green IT: U.S. solar makers vs China
Our GigaOM Pro Green IT analyst Adam Lesser points out that U.S. solar manufacturers are preparing a complaint against China to be filed with the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Read more »
Fire sale: Intel-backed SpectraWatt sold! … for $4.9M
After years of incubation and at least $91.4 million of private capital, silicon cell maker SpectraWatt was sold to Canadian Solar for about $4.95 million during an auction. The sale is a dismal end for the Intel-backed company. Read more »
Solar struggles: Stirling Energy Systems files for bankruptcy
Solar thermal company Stirling Energy Systems has filed for bankruptcy, according to Renewable Energy World. Stirling Energy Systems developed solar concentrators based on stirling engines, which use the sun’s heat to produce electricity, and planned to build projects to sell the power to utilities. Read more »
The Solyndra cloud descends on cleantech
There is no escaping the dark spell cast by Solyndra’s bankruptcy in cleantech discussions these days. At two cleantech conferences in San Francisco this week, speakers gave their takes on the impact of the Solyndra controversy, from money flows to public perception. Read more »
What the clean power industry needs: more lobbying
Is the clean power industry not doing enough to win political support in the nation’s capital? While Solyndra has gotten flack for its significant lobbying efforts, the reality is that the industry should do more, not less. Read more »
SolarCity says Solyndra fallout killed its loan guarantee
On Friday, the DOE announced the closing of three loan guarantees, but also said solar installer SolarCity won’t be securing a loan guarantee for a military solar housing project. SolarCity said they lost the loan guarantee partly because of an investigation into the Solyndra loan. 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 »
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 »
Amidst solar sell off, SK Group shows interest in HelioVolt
Solar thin-film startup HelioVolt has lined up Korean conglomerate SK Group as an equity investor as it tries to scale up and move into mass production. SK announced Monday that it’s made an equity investment of $50 million in HelioVolt. Read more »
Today in Green IT: Nuclear power fades in Germany, Japan
Now for Today in Green IT, news, notes and musing from our GigaOM Pro Green IT analyst Adam Lesser. Nuclear power is falling in Germany and Japan, as corporations follow suit from country-wide protests and anti-nuclear politics. Read more »
The dark side of solar remains underneath bright marketing
Solar company JinkoSolar faced a huge, four-day protest against its toxic waste dumping practices at its factory in China over the weekend, during the same time when the company announced its sponsorship of the San Francisco 49ers. 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 »
Two Obama scandals blend risky tech, politics and money
President Obama’s gotten hit with a one-two punch in recent weeks with two scandals that share some surprising similarities surrounding risky tech startups, politics, money and the question of how to create innovation around infrastructure, one for energy and the other for communications. Read more »
As Solyndra falls, Stion scales up
Silicon Valley solar thin-film startup, Stion, on Friday officially opened the door of its factory in Mississippi, marking a milestone for the company as it seeks to expand production quickly in an increasingly competitive market. 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 »
The Surge accelerator: an incubator for energy and IT
A new Y Combinator–style incubator that will focus solely on the intersection of energy and information technology is launching in Houston, the founder of the group, Kirk Brand Coburn, told me in an exclusive interview. Read more »
First Solar, SunPower move ahead on solar farms
Amidst intense scrutiny of the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program via the Solyndra scandal, September has still emerged as critical for a series of solar companies that hope to close federal loan guarantees and start construction on solar farms by the end of the month. 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 »
Sixtron: Latest solar company to drop out?
Two and a half years ago we covered Canadian solar startup Sixtron Advanced Materials, which developed an anti-reflective coating system for solar cells. Fast forward to 2011, and Sixtron’s website is gone, its phones are discontinued and the company auctioned its assets off to pay creditors. Read more »
Solyndra’s hearing: Introducing DOE Loan Chief Jonathan Silver
While DOE Loan Chief Jonathan Silver will testify before the House Energy Committee, Solyndra’s execs have decided to skip tomorrow’s hearing, and say they’ll testify the week of September 19th. We’ve interviewed Silver many times, particularly on Solyndra, including via this video in April 2011: Read more »
The latest cleantech VC: China
Does the Chinese government want to be a cleantech VC? That seems to be the case as the government announced a plan to invest directly or through venture capital funds in startups that are developing technologies including alternative energy and cars. Read more »
Are there more Solyndras out there?
Are there other Solyndras waiting in the wings that could one day lose over a billion in funds to failed green technologies? Well, there are a couple of other green startups that have raised similarly massive private funds and DOE support. Read more »
Is Obama cooling on clean energy talk post Solyndra?
While Senator Harry Reid indicated that President Obama would likely discuss clean energy jobs in his jobs speech, Obama’s speech contained only the very briefest mentions of anything green related. Is the President cooling on talk of clean energy jobs in the wake of Solyndra’s scandal? Read more »
FBI investigates Solyndra, searches company’s HQ
Solyndra’s woes continue. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is searching Solyndra’s headquarters this morning, though it declined to say what it’s looking for. Read more »
Fall special: solar companies for sale
The sale season is on for solar. SpectraWatt, which filed for bankruptcy last month, plans to hold a live auction of its silicon solar factory equipment on Sept. 28. Others will follow. Read more »
DOE to support the biggest home solar rooftop project in U.S.
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 »
Another major source of solar loans: The U.S. Ex-Im Bank
While an uproar has arisen over the loan guarantees for solar from the U.S. Department of Energy (namely the one for Solyndra), another federal agency has also been making hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loans and loan guarantees to support the U.S. solar industry. Read more »
