Coming soon from SunPower: a solar home loan
SunPower announced a profit-making second quarter on Wednesday as well as a plan to introduce a solar home loan that will complement its effort in the residential leasing market.
Google-backed Cool Planet hopes to raise (a lot of) money for biofuel plant
A biofuel startup with some stellar investors is making some big claims about its technology and production costs. But it will have to raise some serious money to prove itself.
Why consumers shouldn’t worry about the new solar tariffs
The federal government’s decision yesterday to slap fairly hefty tariffs on Chinese solar panels has prompted worries about a big rise in costs for consumers to go solar. But the impact will not likely be as significant for two reasons.
Coulomb powers up with $47.5M for electric car charging
Electric car charging network owner Coulomb Technologies has lined up $47.5 million to expand its reach during a year when more new electric vehicle models are showing up.
First Solar has a new CEO and a 5-year survival plan
Solar bellwether First Solar has two pieces of big news out of its earnings on Thursday: a new CEO with deep experience with conventional power and a new 5-year plan to transform the company into a power plant developer.
5 reasons BrightSource’s solar IPO is important
Brightsource Energy could go public as early as Thursday on the Nasdaq, and with that move the solar power plant developer will be making history.
A startup’s dream to become a clean power retailer
Starting a electricity retailer doesn’t sound like an easy thing to do, but startup Ethical Electric is setting out to do that – but without needing to building and operating distribution lines.
SolarCity moves beyond solar
SolarCity isn’t content with being just an installer of solar panels on rooftops. The company, which reportedly has plans to go public, has expanded beyond solar to a broader set of energy-related services, including upgrading air conditioners and insulating air ducts.
Solar service startup Sungevity is raising $41M
Solar service provider Sungevity under went some serious expansion in 2011 as it began to target the East Coast and overseas, and lined up Lowe’s as an investor and partner. Now following that growth, the startup has started raising a new funding round of $40.8 million.
The rise of the big solar power plant owners
While 2011 will be remember as a troubling year for solar manufacturers, it also is a year when major U.S. power companies such as Duke, MidAmerican and Exelon took a plunge into investing and owning solar power plants.