A year ago, California and federal regulators were busy reviewing and signing off on giant solar farms. Now, the pace has slowed considerably as fewer projects are up for review and uncertainty over federal subsidy programs loom. Read more »
What can you do when profits are hard to come by and your targeted market hasn’t taken off? For Ascent Solar Technologies, that means selling a stake of the company and licensing its technology to a Chinese conglomerate. Read more »
If you buy an electric car will you be more likely to buy solar panels? That’s SunPower and Ford are hoping, and have launched a new initiative to bundle a deal for a Ford Focus Electric vehicle and a SunPower solar rooftop system. Read more »
Declining solar incentives in key markets such as Italy and Germany have disrupted sales for many solar companies, and SunPower in particular has been hit quite hard. On Tuesday the company posted second-quarter losses and promised to speed up plans to reduce costs. Read more »
As more solar farms arise in the sunny corners of the U.S., it’s inevitable that solar developers will have to play ball with environmentalists. First Solar and SunPower announced an agreement with the environmental groups to add thousands of acres near their projects for wildlife protection. Read more »
After the great market sell-off yesterday, stocks are rebounding slightly on Tuesday, including many of the greentech stocks that took a beating yesterday. But most of them are only up slightly. Here’s the latest: Read more »
Tech stocks took a beating on Monday morning, the first day of trading after Standard & Poor downgraded the credit ratings of credit agencies. At the same time, greentech stocks — from solar to biofuels to smart grid — fell alongside the weak macro economic news. Read more »
First Solar posts a huge slide in earnings Tuesday but promises to do better for the remainder of the year. The solar panel maker and project developer is counting on India and North America to become its main markets. Read more »
The summer of 2011 has (arguably) produced a bubble around social media, with valuations for social media companies soaring. Will any of that social magic rub off on consumer-facing clean-power and energy-efficiency technologies, like electric cars, solar panels or home energy management systems? Read more »
Solar-panel prices are falling fast, and that is putting enormous pressure on manufacturers to boost their solar gear’s efficiency. First Solar feels the pressure, too, and on Tuesday boasted a world-record solar cell at 17.3 percent efficiency. Read more »
Brace yourself for reports of lackluster sales and profits for solar companies for the second quarter. SunPower did just that Monday by warning that it expects to post a lower gross margin and a loss for the period. Read more »
A startup offering Groupon-style group discounts for solar panel roof installations is now looking to connect with potential solar customers nationwide. Read more »
Cleantech venture investments dropped by a third in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year, according to the Cleantech Group. However, energy efficiency technologies such as LED lighting and energy management software are still getting some love from private investors. Read more »
SoloPower, which has gotten a federal loan guarantee offer to build a solar panel factory in Oregon, is now aiming for a close to $44 million equity round and has so far lined up about $15 million, according to a filing Wednesday. Read more »
Alta Devices has garnered high-profile investors, but it’s been fairly quiet about the tech it’s developed to bring in those investors. But after chatting with Alta’s CEO, Christopher Norris, we have a lot better idea on its innovation. Here’s the story behind Alta Devices. Read more »
Flow batteries — big tanks of liquids that can store energy — are jockeying for a place in a growing energy storage market that will enable utilities to better manage the electric grid, provide back-up power and potentially work with the electric rates system. Read more »
Concentrating solar photovoltaic technology hasn’t always gotten a lot of respect, but it’s getting more attention these days thanks to government aid and a few well-known players and projects. In fact the technology could see 1 GW of power projects installed by 2015. Read more »
Applied Materials had a blockbuster quarter in its solar business in the most recent quarter, but its dim market outlook points reflects changes that aren’t good for manufacturers but great for project developers. Read more »
Solar companies know what to blame for their weak first quarterly financials this year: Italy and the country’s revision of its solar subsidies. Solar bellwether SunPower this afternoon, announced a quarterly loss of $2.12 million ($0.02 loss per share). Read more »
SunPower plans to discuss its first-quarter earnings tomorrow, and it’s likely to repeat the same sentiment expressed by fellow manufactures over the past week: Policy change in Italy, its biggest market, caused a slow start for its sales in 2011. Read more »
Solar project developers typically distinguish themselves, among other things, by technology choices. Those who develop photovoltaic power plants tend to stick with PV. That trend is changing. Solar Trust of America is teaming up with a German company to develop PV power plants. Read more »
Applied Materials refocused its solar business last year to concentrate on serving manufacturers of silicon-based equipment, and it’s continuing that strategy with Wednesday’s announcement to buy Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates for about $4.9 billion. Read more »
Changes in solar incentives in key markets such as Germany and Italy are making life difficult for major players such as First Solar, which reported a flat first-quarter revenue and lower earnings on Tuesday afternoon. 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 »
SunPower, a stalwart U.S. solar manufacturer in Silicon Valley, plans to sell 60 percent of the company to French oil and gas giant Total Group, the companies announced Thursday. SunPower will get much need financial backing through the deal. Read more »
Has Solaria finally hit its stride? The company is now on a path to expand production, and later this morning, it’s scheduled to celebrate the new dig with big-name guests such as California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sierra Club’s executive director Mike Brune. Read more »
It’s a double-whopper: The federal government is offering the largest loan guarantee commitment yet to what will be the world’s largest proposed solar farm. Blythe Solar is set to get $2.1 billion in loan guarantees to build part of a 1,000MW plant in California. 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 »
Want to see history in the making? I shot this 30-second video of California Governor Jerry Brown signing a bill into law that requires utilities to source 33 percent of their electricity from clean power by 2020. Read more »
It was a union of sorts between federal, state and industry initiatives, culminating in a day that will be remembered in solar power history. DOE Chief Steven Chu, California Governor Jerry Brown and SunPower executives announced a series of key solar projects. Here’s my photos: 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 »
Renewable energy is enjoying a rising profile at the expense of nuclear power. But nuclear power producers and technology developers aren’t necessary the losers there. Some of them have been snapping up solar and wind companies and power plant projects, and the trend will continue. Read more »
Solar companies have seen their stocks riding high so far this year. But that ride wont’ last forever. Here is a list of events and policies that could move the stocks in 2011. Read more »
Solar bellwether SunPower reported a blockbuster fourth quarter and fiscal year 2010 earnings on Thursday, representing an upswing in both the solar industry and the economy. SunPower said for 2010, it expanded its global utility and power plant pipeline to more than 5 GW. Read more »
Holy solar. Southern California Edison announced this morning that it has signed contracts with solar developers SunPower and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures to buy solar electricity for a total of 831 MW of solar projects. Read more »
First Solar’s own power generation projects have always been mounted on racks that don’t tilt throughout the day to follow the sun, but the company is exploring the use of trackers. First Solar announced Friday it has bought RayTracker for an undisclosed sum. Read more »
Italy, land of pasta and Roman ruins, has also become a booming solar market. SunPower, which previously bought an Italian project developer SunRay to tackle the country, announced Monday it completed 85 MW of projects in Italy in 2010. Read more »
This year has turned out to be a boom year for the solar industry. What will 2011 bring? Here are key trends that can emerge next year, in terms of policies, financing, project development, new markets and technology. Read more »
It’s been a sport for analysts and competitors to speculate when solar panel maker First Solar might no longer be the industry’s low-cost leader. First Solar executives issued their sales forecast and promised the company’s reign won’t end next year. Read more »
Abound Solar is ending the year with glad tidings and good cheer — that is, $110 million in equity and a $400 million federal loan guarantee, almost all of which will fund an ambitious plan to build 775 megawatts of new manufacturing capacity. Read more »
