Tag Archives: green tech
12 Misleading Myths About Solar Power
Solar energy is a dynamic and continuous energy source that many believe will one day provide most of our energy needs. Unfortunately, conventional energy industries like big oil have giant backers with deep pockets and have successfully leveraged their money to smear renewable technologies. Their main target seems to be solar. It’s important to know [...]
Bloom Energy Raises Another $130M
Fuel cell “startup” Bloom Energy just raised $130 million more in venture capital, according to a scoop from Fortune. That takes the VC funding to beyond $1.1 billion for this firm and makes it one of the all-time leaders in VC funding. Along with Fisker and Solyndra — not exactly great company. According to [...]
Habitat for Humanity Goes Solar in California
The East Bay Silicon Valley Habit for Humanity is about to build its 101th energy efficient home powered with solar. The organization celebrated the start of a new 12-home development in Oakland, Calif. this week. The project is made possible through a partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Pacific Gas and Electric, the largest electric [...]
A123 Systems: Going to Zero?
There was so much enthusiasm when high-performance battery manufacturer A123 Systems (NASDAQ:AONE) came on the scene. The promise of an advanced battery manufacturing facility pumping out batteries for next-generation electric cars while providing jobs for US workers was a bold one, and one that a lot of folks cheered. But certain realities rapidly turned that [...]
What Happened to the Thin Film Solar Market?
There is no thin-film solar market. There’s First Solar with cadmium telluride (CdTe), Solar Frontier with CIGS, and until recently Sharp in amorphous silicon (a-Si), with a few smaller players following behind. There are also a few companies looking at very thin c-Si, such as Twin Creeks or 1366 Technologies. In cadmium telluride materials, [...]
With DOE Loan Guarantee, SoloPower Opens Oregon Plant
SoloPower is preparing to receive dispersement of a $197 million U.S. DOE Loan Guarantee. Federal loan guarantees supporting solar manufacturing have gone the way of the Dodo since the demise of Solyndra, but SoloPower was grandfathered into the program, and as it prepares to open its new manufacturing facility this Thursday (Sep. 27), it’s [...]
Europe Accounts for 70% of Global PV
The solar power sector is a topsy-turvy one, with companies, subsidies and technologies rising and falling. But there’s no question about what region has been driving a market that, overall, continues to grow: It’s Europe. As of the end of 2011, the European Union accounted for 70 percent of the cumulative solar photovoltaic capacity installed [...]
Electric Cars vs. Fuel Cell Cars
While some car manufacturers are placing their bets on electric cars, Toyota has decided to continue its focus on hybrids, and will introduce 21 updated or full model change hybrids in the next three years. It expects to sell a million hybrids each year through 2015. This year, the Prius family became the third top sellling cars in [...]
More New York Funds for Energy Efficiency
New York state’s latest initiative to reduce reliance on dirty energy comes in the form of $30 million to support adoption of cutting edge energy efficiency technologies. Under the Energy Efficiency Market Acceleration Program (EE-MAP), the companies selected will get a lot of help from the state to commercialize their technologies. “This public-private partnership will help bring innovative green [...]