SolarCity

The hidden pain points holding back solar

Clean Power Finance is releasing a federally-funded survey to quantify the challenges solar installers face when they try to get all the necessary permits to construct solar electric systems and connect them to the local grid.

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SolarCity guns for a $201M IPO

SolarCity filed to go public in April, but we are only now getting a glimpse of its IPO plan. The company is proposing to raise roughly $201 million and join the NASDAQ family.

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Using electricity rate data to sell solar

The path to winning over solar customers is through integrating data. San Francisco startup Genability began knitting together a collection of complex electric rates from utilities across the country, and its customers use the data to show how much could be saved by going solar.

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A hot topic at Intersolar this week: energy storage

Energy storage companies, like battery makers, and solar firms have been talking about the possible marriage of the two technologies for some time. And the union will likely be a big theme at Intersolar, one of the biggest solar energy trade shows in the U.S.

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Saft pushes batteries for solar panels

The market for solar panels might be booming in the U.S., but it’s still early days for matching battery systems with solar panel installations. But that’s not stopping battery maker Saft from looking to make batteries a natural extension of a solar panel system.

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6 ways software rules the clean power economy

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.

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California expands solar net metering program

California regulators on Thursday essentially increase the amount of solar power generation that could qualify for net metering, but they left unresolved a contentious issue over whether people who don’t have solar or other renewable energy systems are subsidizing those who do.

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Sunrun raises $60M for residential solar service

Investors may not be so keen to put money into solar manufacturing these days, but they are pumping quite a bit of money into the solar retail sector. Sunrun is benefitting from this investor sentiment and announced Wednesday that it’s raised a $60 million in equity.

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Kleiner Perkins backs solar sales & marketing startup

Gen110 started out as a solar sales and marketing company in 2009, and now it plans to add other residential energy services and has lined up Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as an investor to help its expansion, Gen110 said Thursday.

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SolarCity to file for an IPO

Despite the series of withdrawals of greentech IPOs this month, solar rooftop installer SolarCity announced on Monday that it is planning for an IPO. Will it fare better than the other greentech IPO hopefuls this month?

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SolarCity moves beyond solar

SolarCity isn’t content with being just an installer of solar panels on rooftops. The company, which reportedly has plans to go public, has expanded beyond solar to a broader set of energy-related services, including upgrading air conditioners and insulating air ducts.

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Report

After Solyndra: finding opportunity in the shifting solar industry

The global solar market added 27.7 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic systems in 2011, a 70 percent increase over 2010, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). Europe continues to be the biggest solar market. Germany and Italy accounted for nearly 60 percent of the new installations in 2011, according to the EPIA. As the European market matures, manufacturers and developers are exploring new territories. The United States, along with China and India, are the upstarts, thanks to their solar-friendly policies.

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Solar service startup Sungevity is raising $41M

Solar service provider Sungevity under went some serious expansion in 2011 as it began to target the East Coast and overseas, and lined up Lowe’s as an investor and partner. Now following that growth, the startup has started raising a new funding round of $40.8 million.

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10 solar trends to watch for in 2012

Solar tech companies have suffered in 2011, and a speedy recovery in 2012 doesn’t seem likely. But the market holds huge potential for growth, and this dark time shall pass. Here is our look at solar trends to watch for in 2012.

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Solar complaint against China moves forward

A complaint accusing Chinese solar cell and module manufacturers of flooding the U.S. market with unfairly low-priced goods cleared a hurdle to move forward Friday with a 6-0 vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

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Why solar and electric cars should be friends

Solar power and electric cars are an ideal match. Both are tied to the grid, and disruptive technologies, which are in an early market stage and which are trying to reduce costs. Partnerships just make sense.

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Investors enamored with rooftop solar

The solar market has been marked by falling profits and controversial federal government loans this year, but one bright spot is the growth of the residential and small commercial solar sector in which investors are setting up more funds to financial installations.

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Quarterly Wrap-up

Green IT Q3: Solar stumbles while car sharing zooms ahead

Car sharing continues to roar on as one of the most tangible ways in which we’re seeing an ideal of the cleantech movement—reducing resource consumption—finding market appeal. Capital flowed to peer-to-peer car sharing startup Getaround, Zipcarhit college campuses and strengthened its ties with Ford, and Hertz got further into the game.

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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 (s FSLR), SunPower (s SPWRA) and Prologis (s PLD).

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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.

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Why we need a Kelley Blue Book for solar

More solar panels are sprouting from the rooftops these days, along with an increasing number of equipment models and installers. Yet there is no good consumer guide to help people compare shop and avoid scams. The time has come to create one.

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SolarCity aims for $42M to expand solar roofs

SolarCity, which has lined up investors such as Google to finance solar panel installations, is looking for money to run its business operations. The installer is seeking a $42 million round and has bagged about $14.8 million, according to its government filing Friday.

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Google invests $280M in SolarCity solar roof fund

Google is emerging as the ultimate clean power sugar daddy. On Tuesday, Google announced it has made its largest investment in clean power to date, creating a $280 million fund for rooftop solar panel projects that will be installed by solar company SolarCity.

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Lowe’s To Support Sungevity’s Solar Services

Big box stores have tried to market solar electric equipment and installation services for years, but they haven’t seen good results. Lowe’s is hoping to change that by offering services from Sungevity and investing in Sungevity.

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SolarCity Snaps Up Residential Arm of groSolar

Solar installer SolarCity continues its expansion plans this week with another acquisition. On Thursday, the company announced that it has acquired the residential solar installer division of groSolar, a solar installer with a large footprint on the East Coast.

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Citi Enters Residential Solar with $40M Fund for SolarCity

Citi isn’t new to investing in solar energy projects, but the bank previously backed solar projects built for businesses and public agencies. But it has now jumped solidly into the residential solar installation market by agreeing to back $40 million in solar installations by SolarCity.

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Sungevity Lines Up $15M, Heads to East Coast

A couple of years ago, startup Sungevity set out to provide hassle-free services for homeowners who want to install solar electric systems. Looks like its strategy has paid off: On Wednesday, the company announced it has raised another $15 million.

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The Walmart Effect on Thin Film Solar

When Walmart decides to invest in emerging green technologies it offers considerable validation. That’s certainly the intention behind Walmart’s announcement that it will pay for solar electricity from installations that use thin film solar panels from MiaSole and First Solar (s FSLR) and are installed by SolarCity.

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Can Solar Help Usher In Storage for the Grid?

Can the grid handle the growing flow of wind and solar that will come online in the next few years? According to California’s grid operator the answer is yes, but with a particular attention to energy storage policy.

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LaCie Debuts Wuala Sync

LaCie’s cloud file storage service Wuala (which Om wrote about quite a while back when it was first launched) has announced the availability of a new feature, Wuala Sync, which allows users to automatically synchronize their files online and across multiple computers and operating systems.

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Oakland's Green Collar Economy to Get to Work With Solar City

On Monday the city of Oakland, and its Mayor Ron Dellums, plan to officially launch the Green Collar Jobs Corps program, which, with the help of Foster City, Calif.-based solar installer startup SolarCity, will provide training and employment opportunities for program graduates.

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Fujitsu P1620 update

I visited the Fujitsu site today and was pleasantly surprised to find that the estimated shipping date for my P1620 was moved…

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Apple Phone Biz is a Joke

No really! Apparently, a prank story on a spanish language website, Canal PDA, indicated that Apple was going to set up its…

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Spam & Slashdot

Talk about Saturday morning good news bad news. No New York Times delievered this morning, no coffee in the apartment, slight hangover,…

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09/17/2004 VoIP Daily

8X8 shares surge after distro deal VoicePulse: 20 Million Minutes Using IAX2 Packet8 VoIP Now Available At Ingram Micro, Navarre Comcast Adopting…

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