Here comes a $250 million fund to back leases for home solar roofs in the U.S., courtesy of SunPower and Google.…
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The future of solar financing
The complex world of solar financing has led to some serious startup innovation in the space. But as the sector grows up will it become a vertical or a horizontal play?…
Read MoreWhat SolarCity’s earnings say about the challenges of building a solar retail business
SolarCity is one of the leaders when it comes to installing solar panels on home owner's rooftops. But the company's $31 million loss, in its latest quarter, shows the growing pains for the retail solar players.…
Read MoreSolar financing startup Clean Power Finance raises $37M from Google Ventures, Kleiner
Solar financier Clean Power Finance has raised a large round of $37 million from Valley investors Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures and Claremont Creek. Solar financing and installations are one of the bright spots in the solar sector.…
Read MoreWill NRG Energy be the next ten ton gorilla in solar leases?
If NRG Energy starts offering solar leasing options to home owners and small businesses, it would represent the mainstreaming of solar roofs and also likely disrupt the current sector filled with a variety of smaller players.…
Read MoreSolar as a service dominated the solar roofs built last year in California
Solar-as-a-service is dominating the market for home solar panel systems and the companies that pioneered these financing models are now seeing the pay back for those early moves.…
Read More7 projects looking to use big data to cut the cost of solar power
Data analytics will be able to help lower the cost of solar through cutting installation costs, making solar cells more efficient and creating better market mechanisms. Here's 7 projects that the DOE is funding to use data to make solar cheaper.…
Read MoreSolar panel rooftop startup Sungevity raises a whopping $125 million
Following the IPO of solar installer SolarCity last month, Sungevity announced that it's raised $125 million in a combo of equity and project financing. The company does sales, marketing, system design, and financing for home solar panel systems, which saw a boom year in 2012.…
Read More13 solar startups to watch in 2013
Solar makers are getting squeezed in a difficult global solar market, but the growth of solar panel installations continues to soar. This should all make 2013 a very interesting year for solar startups. Here's 13 solar startups to watch in 2013:…
Read MoreThe 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.…
Read MoreSolar startups innovate around financing models
Buying and selling renewable energy credits has helped to build New Jersey into a major solar state. That has enticed a San Francisco startup to start offering a credit trading service, which it launched on Tuesday, to help installers finance residential projects.…
Read MoreWhy Google ditching its clean power research isn’t a big deal
Despite Google shutting down its clean power philanthropic initiative, Google still remains committed to clean power in several ways far more important, which have represented the bulk of Google's work with energy.…
Read MoreGoogle 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 MoreThe Googlization of solar
The Googlization of solar is here, and software, big data, wireless networks and IT will be a fundamental part of the future of modern energy infrastructure.…
Read MoreClean Power Finance raises $19M from Kleiner, Google VC
Clean Power Finance, a solar software and financing startup, has raised $19 million from investors, according to a filing. Investors listed on the company's filing include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Partner Ben Kortlang, and Claremont Creek's Nat Goldhaber.…
Read MoreHoly New Year Greentech Funding!
On Monday we noted four greentech firms that had filed fund-raising documents or had made announcements about new financing rounds. But by…
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