Nanosolar

NRG embraces CIGS solar tech

Solar Frontier, the largest manufacturer of copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) solar panels, announced Wednesday that it’s shipped 13.2MW to NRG Solar (s NRG), which is evolving from being a buyer of solar power projects to a developer.

A startup behind Dow’s solar shingles: NuvoSun

If you follow solar news, chances are you’ve heard of Dow’s solar shingles — a more aesthetic way to put panels on rooftops. Well, according to the founder and CEO of thin film solar startup NuvoSun, Dave Pearce, NuvoSun is the latest producer of Dow’s solar shingles

Solar Frontier outshines rivals with thin film solar deal

While so many startups in the U.S. and Germany have been trying to build commercial-scale businesses off of making solar panels made of copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS), really only one is making strides at any kind of scale: Japan’s Solar Frontier.

First Solar sets record for thin-film solar tech

First Solar has broken its own record. The company announced Tuesday that it’s able to produce a thin-film solar panel that can convert 14.4 percent of the sunlight that hits it into electricity. The new record exceeds the 13.4 percent it achieved last year.

SoloPower continues to amass funds for solar factory

Thin film solar startup SoloPower continues to fund-raise, amid a difficult market for next-gen solar manufacturers. According to a filing, SoloPower has just raised $20 million in debt and options that will help provide fuel for the company’s factory to mass-produce its solar panels.

Ascent Solar lines up a Chinese patron

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.

Next-Gen Thin Film Solar Players: Where Are They Now?

2011 will be a make or break year for many of the next-generation of thin film solar startups that are using the material copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) to make solar cells. Close to a dozen companies are aiming to either ramp up, or move into, production.

Intel Capital Deepens Its Solar Bet on Sulfurcell

Venture capitalists have been bemoaning the challenges of investing in solar hardware makers, but some haven’t given up. Sulfurcell, for one, announced Monday that it’s gotten €18.8 million ($25 million) from investors such as Intel Capital to market its second-generation thin films.

Stion To Aim for IPO, Snags $700M in Sales

Solar panel startup Stion plans to build a 500MW factory, potentially raise between $100 million to $150 million in an IPO in 2012, and fulfill at least 500MW of sales contracts, CEO Chet Farris tells us.

First Solar to Boom to 2.7 GW by 2012

This morning the industry darling announced that it will boost capacity to a whopping 2.7 GW by 2012, by building two new factories, one in the U.S. and one in Vietnam. That’s double its current annual production of 1.4 GW.

Report: The Winners & Losers of the Solar Shakeout

Picking winners and losers is always a dicey exercise, but Lux Research took that plunge and issued a report this week, which points to likely revenue winners and IPO candidates over the coming year. The names that popped out include Amonix, Enphase Energy and Abound Solar.

MiaSole’s Progress Report Part 2: 600MW with Juwi

UPDATE: As it turns out, Juwi Solar really likes MiaSole. The German power project developer has inked a multiyear, 600-megawatt agreement that calls for MiaSole to ship 50 megawatts in 2011 and more in the following years.

WD Markets New Powerline Adapter as Video Friendly

Western Digital is introducing a new powerline home networking adapter today that’s specifically pitched as a way to get video into the living room. The WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit could be a good fit for people with Internet-ready TVs and set-top boxes.

MiaSole Progress Report: 8.5MW Deal with Juwi

This year is shaping up to be a pretty good one for MiaSole, which began to disclose its customers earlier this year after spending roughly two years to get the manufacturing technology right. The Kleiner Perkins-backed company on Tuesday said it has a deal to supply Juwi with 8.5 megawatts of solar panels.

PHOTOS: SunPower Factory Tour, 25 Years to 1 GW

The story of high efficiency solar photovoltaic panel maker SunPower puts the whole clean energy landscape into perspective. After 25 years in the business the company has been producing solar panels commercially for only about five years. Here’s our photos from the factory tour.

Stealth Thin Film Solar Startup Solexant Gearing Up

Solar startup Solexant, which is sometimes stealthy, and sometimes not-so-stealthy, is gearing up to start talking a whole lot more. That’s because according to a filing the company, which was spun out of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is in the process of raising $65 million.

Chip University: 10 Execs From the Chip Biz Leading Greentech

The semiconductor industry is the perfect training ground for leaders of the next generation of greentech startups. It takes a lot of capital and production know-how to scale chip manufacturing successfully — something thin-film solar, LED, and battery startups desperately need to learn how to do.

Earth2Tech Week in Review

V-P nominations and the Democrat’s supposedly green convention clogged the airwaves this week, but what does it all mean for cleantech? Here’s…

Look Out, First Solar: AVA Solar Scorches With $104M

First Solar competitor AVA Solar says it has raised a round of $104 million to produce its thin film solar photovoltaics. The news comes on the heels of the massive $300 million round announced this week by thin film solar startup Nanosolar. Solar funding is hotter than the lights at the Pepsi Center this week.

This is Your Brain. TiYB when fundraising…

Raising money is hard. If you’re a first-time entrepreneur trying to raise venture capital or angel financing, you’ll end up learning a…

Is ADSL2+ Bad for VoIP?

Conventional wisdom would say that more bandwidth is actually a good thing for VoIP. But that is not the case when it…

This week on jkOnTheRun

Top Stories: GottaBeMobile launches! Origami video? InkGestures 1.1 released Intel planning ultra-mobile PCs Tablet video wins award ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC now…

How to ruin a portable device

Satellite radio enthusiasts are up in arms over previously undisclosed limitations in the otherwise nifty Sirius S50 portable satellite radio player. It…

Blinkx 2.0

Desktop search tool, Blinkx is out with version 2.0. Paul K has come around and likes what the tiny company is doing…