Archive for the ‘ Solar ’ Category

Efficiency, King of Power

A recent panel discussion with John Doerr (KPCB), Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures) and John Holland (Foundation Capital) in the WSJ caught my attention. The lesser known of the three panelists, John Holland, had a quote I felt trumped his two better known colleagues when asked what is “hot” in the CleanTech sector. Mr. Holland:  “We’ve [ READ MORE ]

Silicon and the Solar industry – a Boston Consulting Group assessment

Phillip Gerbert and Holger Rubel (both Boston Consulting Group) published an interesting review of the Solar sector and its strategic position both in the pre-2009 years and its outlook for the next decade. A research piece by JPMorgan‘s Gokul Hariharan, Shoji Sato and Carrie Liu comes to their support although takes a more holistic, if [ READ MORE ]

Joule Biotechnologies

Joule Biotechnologies, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a novel and more efficient technology to produce either ethanol or diesel, using the sun, recycled water and their patented photosynthetic organisms. These organisms, mixed with solar energy and CO2, produce the desired biofuels in a game changing, highly productive manner. The firm refers to the end product [ READ MORE ]

CleanTech Genius

Dr. Yi Cui is a genius.  Learning a little about this modest Materials Science assistant professor from Stanford University gives one an insight to how and why the CleanTech sector is the most relevant in the world, and how significantly our lives can and will change in the near future. Take a look at some [ READ MORE ]

Denmark leads the world in CleanTech

Using both wind and efficiency plays, Denmark leads the world in CleanTech on a GDP weighted ranking according to a recent report commissioned from the World Wildlife Fund and written by Roland Berger.  The ability to produce and sell products and services that reduce CO2 emissions is the key metric used to rank all 27 [ READ MORE ]

Desertec moving closer to Europe

For many years the Middle East has shipped carbon based fuels to Europe- now a plan to ship clean electrons on this same route has just moved one step forward. A group of 12 European companies is moving forward with the signing of contracts last week to form an LLC called Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII.)  [ READ MORE ]

Anything is possible (in some places)

The Institute for Local Self Reliance based in Minneapolis, USA has just produced an interesting map of the United States suggesting that 31 of the 50 states can be self sufficient for electricity if using only in state, renewable resources. Only 5 states were at 30% or less. The map makes an interesting point- while [ READ MORE ]

Abengoa Solar signs large PPA with PG&E

In another monumental deal for the solar industry, one of the larger Power Purchase Agreements (”PPAs”) was signed between Spanish based Abengoa Solar and California Utility PG&E for a 250MW concentrated solar power plant 100 miles NorthEast of Los Angeles in the Mojave desert.   Previous deals in a nearby area of California have failed [ READ MORE ]

Sharper PV cells hit 35.8% Conversion Rate

Sharp Corporation just announced a confirmed conversion rate of 35.8% for solar rays into electricity for their compound solar cell. Unlike silicon based PV, compound solar cells use photo-absorption layers made from compounds such as gallium and indium. No word was given in the release regarding the price or date to obtain the higher efficiency [ READ MORE ]

Clean Energy Patent filings expanding despite capital markets

With less capital flowing from investors to inventors, clean energy patents are still flourishing. According to a recent report from Heslin Rothenberg Farley and Mesiti, the index of Clean Energy Patent Growth (CEPGI) had its best quarter since its inception in Q2 2009 with 274 patents granted, up from 217 year over year. Fuel cells, [ READ MORE ]

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