Deals and investments

A solar farm in California will be the largest to use an emerging type of thin-film solar technology, another competitive force bringing down the price of solar.

Japan-based Solar Frontier will supply solar panels built with solar cells that use a combination of copper, indium, and selenide. The project, which will produce 150 megawatts at peak times, will be in Kearn County, California and is expected to be completed next June.

Project developer Enxco and Solar Frontier said the thin-film technology has a favorable year-round energy production, not only during its peak output. The technology is "compelling to major … Read more

Startup Joule has secured the money to take its potentially breakthrough biofuel technology to a larger scale.

The company today announced that undisclosed private and institutional investors led a $70 million funding to build a larger demonstration plant. The announcement was made at the Technology Leaders in Future Energy conference in Abu Dhabi. Founding investor Flagship Ventures also joined the round.

Founded in 2007, Joule took a clean-sheet approach to making biofuels which now are primarily made from corn or sugar cane. Its process uses a genetically engineered version of cyanobacteria to produce diesel or ethanol using only sunlight, water, … Read more

The average consumer isn't likely to spend much effort managing home energy. Big power users in businesses, on the other hand, will go out of their way cut down on waste.

Start-up company Tenrehte, based near Rochester, New York, launched its PicoWatt smart outlet at CES two years ago, aiming to appeal to green-minded consumers. The idea is that a sub-$100 Wi-Fi-enabled smart outlet would transmit energy data to an online app which would let consumers save money by scheduling things to run at off-peak times.

Now two years later, Tenrehte has changed its focus to industrial and … Read more

An energy project in Austria will use biogas-powered fuel cells at homes and businesses to pump power into the grid.

ClearEdge Power today announced a deal with Austrian energy company Gussing Renewable Energy to supply 50 megawatts worth of fuel cells between now and 2020 for installation in Austria. The deal will be worth $500 million over that time, making it one of the biggest contracts for stationary fuel cells.

In the first phase, ClearEdge Power's large refrigerator-size fuel cells, which each can generate five kilowatts of electric power and heat from gas, will be installed to power groups … Read more

Speedy lithium ion batteries, the power source for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, are making inroads into the renewable energy business.

A123 Systems today announced that a Hawaiian wind project developer will use its batteries to firm up power delivery into the grid. The Auwahi Wind project, which has a generating capacity of 21 megawatts, will be buttressed by a giant battery bank able to deliver 11 megawatts of power.

It's the second time this year that A123 Systems' storage systems, built around shipping container-size battery banks, were chosen to be co-located with a wind farm. The Laurel Mountain … Read more

Solar Millennium said today it has begun insolvency proceedings, the second German solar manufacturer to do so this month.

The company has been trying to sell its pipeline of large-scale concentrating solar projects in the U.S. But because Solar Millennium was not able to negotiate desired terms, it had to enter into insolvency to "save existing assets," the company said in a statement.

Solar Millennium is considered a concentrating solar power pioneer. The news of Solar Millennium's financial woes is the latest event in a wrenching industry shakeout that has caused bankruptcies at a number of … Read more

Startup GMZ Energy thinks solar hot water panels can pull double duty.

The company today announced it raised $14 million in series C funding to commercialize a product that will draw electricity from solar hot water collectors. It will also make small chips able to convert heat from car exhaust pipes and industrial machines into electricity.

GMZ Energy, which was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston College in 2008, has created an improved material for converting the energy in heat into electric power. The process works in reverse so an electric current will produce heat.

Thermoelectric … Read more

Solar startup Stion has found deep pockets in Asia.

The Silicon Valley-based company today said it has raised $130 million from Korea-based thin-film solar equipment maker Avaco, Korean private-equity funds, and venture capital firms. Last year, Stion took a $50 million investment from Taiwan Semiconductor as part of a larger series D round.

With today's funding, Avaco and Stion will collaborate to develop next-generation thin-film solar equipment designed to boost cell efficiency and factory output. It will also create a subsidiary in Korea and build a factory to serve Asian markets.

Stion is one of many solar companies founded … Read more

The conveyor belt of new mobile phone releases has created a stream of revenue for eRecyclingCorps.

The Irving, Texas-based startup today raised $35 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to expand its phone buyback services.

eRecyclingCorps, which is now used by at 3,000 Sprint and 500 Verizon outlets, lets consumers check the value of a phone they no longer want from a Web site and get a credit while in the store. A consumer can also use the application from home and mail the phone for a credit, although the company considers an instant rebate more appealing to … Read more