Financing is the first and final word on solar projects. And in these straitened economic times, one company in San Francisco’s Bay Area is aiming to spark a rooftop solar revolution–one tile at a time.
Solar Mosaic, based in Berkeley, will this week unveil its pilot community PV program in neighboring Oakland. Instead of turning to expensive lending rates at major banks, Solar Mosaic’s financing adopts a crowd-sourcing model through the sale of “tiles,” each worth $100. Keep reading →
The promise of riches and recognition bring entrepreneurs to the Cleantech Open each year; the contest has become a bellwether for industry trends, so that even established players are paying attention.
Since 2006, some 400 alumni have competed in the Cleantech Open. Last year there were 93 competitors and this year there are 150. Its 400 alumni have raised over $280 million in private capital, 80% remain economically viable today, and more than 2,000 new clean technology jobs have been created. Keep reading →
In tight economic times, energy firms are helping customers find creative ways to pay for installations that can save them money over the long run.
Metrus Energy develops and finances energy efficiency retrofits at commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Keep reading →
Advantix Systems has its origins in a company established in the 1980s in Israel by three brothers who wanted to build an ice rink. Their quest to keep ice cool led the company to the development of a liquid desiccant based on salt water from the Dead Sea that removes humidity from the air.
Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) systems account for around 30% of electricity used in US homes. Advantix claims its systems reduce energy demand by 35%-50%. Keep reading →
NASA once looked to the moon to secure US global power. Now the agency is searching earth for its next giant leap for mankind.
From its inception in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration led the world in innovation: from aerospace engineering to Teflon frying pans. Keep reading →
President Obama launched the SunShot Initiative in his State of the Union Address this year, inspired by President Kennedy’s moonshot program. Its ultimate aim is to drive down the costs of installed solar systems to a dollar a watt.
Ramamoorthy Ramesh is the Director of the US Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative and Solar Energy Technologies Program. He is a self-confessed “tech jock” on a mission to achieve the dollar-a-watt goal, which would mean a 75% reduction from today’s prices. Keep reading →
The energy industry needs to achieve “escape velocity” with the help of entrepreneurial innovation, said one of Silicon Valley’s leading thought leaders said recently.
“If you think about the energy industry as an enterprise and we look at the entrepreneurial people involved, [they] are the energy mitochondria or the chloroplasts that are going to create the escape velocity,” Geoffrey Moore said to a conference audience gathered in California last week. Keep reading →
A US company aims to break into Europe’s wave power industry, despite fierce competition in the marine technology market.
“Wave energy can help because it is one of the few vastly available renewable resources that can act like baseload power. The trick is you have to deliver a device that is survivable [and] maintainable in one of the harshest environments but … can also deliver that competitive cost,” Reenst Leseman, CEO of Columbia Power Technologies, recently said. Keep reading →
Germany and the US are about to enter into a fresh period of deeper cooperation on energy and climate policies, said a top environmental minister from Europe’s leading economy.
“Germany and the US are faced with some very similar energy challenges and it’s important to discuss these in a transatlantic setting so we can learn about how best to meet these challenges. Both countries need to modernize their energy systems and make them more efficient,” Katharina Reiche, the parliamentary state secretary at the German environment ministry, said at the Intersolar Conference in San Francisco this week. Keep reading →
Despite a slow start for the US solar photovoltaic (PV) market, the year will recover sharply to end with “frantic buying”, according to a leading analyst.
“2011 could very well be a US 1.7 [gigawatt] inventory for the US that flows into 2012,” Paula Mints, principal analyst at Navigant Consulting, said. Keep reading →
