Solar

Nanosolar to set sights on residential market

There's been an explosion in the number of solar companies over the past few years. But for the most part, product development is destined for power plants operated by utilities.

That won't always be the case, however, says Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen, who wrote in a blog that the company will eventually serve the home rooftop market.

Nanosolar is a well-funded Silicon Valley solar manufacturer that started making thin-film solar cells and modules late last year. The first customer is a utility in east Germany.

In a recent blog, Roscheisen described why the company is targeting utilities first … Read more

BigBelly Solar compactor now squeezes recycling

It was only a question of time. BigBelly Solar has expanded its product line with a solar-powered compactor for recyclables.

The Needham, Mass.-based company first started selling trash cans with a small 30-watt solar panel on the top that powers a compactor a couple of years ago.

Municipalities have been buying them to cut down on the number of trips that garbage handlers need to make. That cuts down on fuel costs (garbage trucks get about 2.5 mpg) and reduces street congestion and pollution.

There's also the "green PR" when people see the solar panel … Read more

Riding the power of undersea waves

MENLO PARK, Calif.--Back and forth, back and forth. That's the idea behind WaveRoller.

The company, based in Espoo, Finland, says it has devised a way to generate electricity from waves without buoys or other floating devices, the mainstay of other wave power companies.

Instead, the company wants to plant oscillating fiberglass/steel plates on the sea bed. Waves rolling in push over the plates, which rebound after the wave passes to only be knocked down by another wave. The back-and-forth motion of the plates drives a piston and creates hydraulic pressure. The pressure ultimately gets fed to a … Read more

MIT says it wants a solar 'revolution'

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday announced a $10 million grant to develop technology to make solar power mainstream.

The Chesonis Foundation donated the money for research in three areas: materials to improve conversion of light to electricity; storage; and hydrogen production from solar energy and water.

Called the Solar Revolution Project, it will provide funding for 30 five-year fellowships in solar energy.

The idea is to pursue "blue sky" research, in an effort to fill the void between corporate-funded applied research and the limited amount of federal money dedicated to basic science research in solar, said … Read more

Hot kilowatts: Infinia, Stirling Energy Systems, eSolar get money

Three solar-thermal companies have raised money in the past week in a sector that's showing life, despite a choppy investment environment.

Infinia on Tuesday said it has taken $7 million from Asian contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, part of a total of $57 million in a Series B round first announced in February.

The company uses a dish to concentrate sunlight onto a Stirling engine, which makes electricity. It intends to sell its 3-kilowatt devices to small-scale utility plants.

On Monday, eSolar said it has raised $130 million from Idealab and Google.org. Its solar-thermal systems, designed for utility-scale … Read more

Green companies to watch: Renewable energy

Which are the companies to watch in clean tech? Most are definitely not household names but they are having an impact.

Below the photo is a list of some of the newsmakers in the renewable energy business, with a focus on start-ups. Along the way, you'll get a feel for the technology categories that define this corner of green tech.

1. Ausra: Originally from Australia, Ausra is one of the movers and shakers in solar thermal, a technology that is already competitive with utility-scale fossil fuel power generation.

Mirrors reflect light onto a liquid that makes steam, which drives … Read more

Images: A glance at green labels

With so many "green" options appearing on everyday products, navigating the marketplace can be tricky if you're attempting to green your life.

Home Depot stamps efficient lightbulbs, low-toxic paints, and other goods as "Eco Options." SC Johnson sells Windex certified by Greenlist, the company's internal effort to reduce toxicants in its product line. Canon labels printers as "Generation Green."

Environmentalists may applaud corporate efforts to sell fewer polluting and poisonous goods and services. But some consumer watchdogs warn that the proliferation of green claims will confuse or mislead shoppers, and prefer that … Read more

Report: eSolar gets $130 million

Solar power start-up eSolar has raised $130 million in funding, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

The Journal says one of eSolar's investors is Google, which announced last November that it would begin investing in alternative energy companies in an effort called RE

Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar has plans to build large solar-thermal plants using the heliostat design, which utilizes an array of flat mirrors that direct sunlight onto a water tower, turning the water inside to steam, which then turns a turbine to make electricity.

Now, the company says, it has come up … Read more

Cutting down solar costs with satellite imagery

Danny Kennedy may have come up with a way to make solar panels an impulse buy.

Sungevity, Kennedy's company, has come up with a Web-based system for evaluating the solar potential for a given home through satellite data. Customers log onto Sungevity's site and provide an address and some information about their monthly electrical bill.

Within 24 hours, the company sends customers a quote for installing a solar system, an estimate of how much the system will save them over 25 years, the prospective increase in the value of their home, and simulated imagery of what their home … Read more