Big Corps Waiting to Enter Solar
Samsung and LG Electronics, Foxconn Technology and other big electronics manufacturers say they are biding their time but plan to get into the solar panel business when the dust clears, reports Bloomberg.
They can convert LCD panel factories to produce thin-film solar panels for $0.30 per kilowatt or less they say, but they’re waiting for demand to triple. When the market reaches 100 GW a year (30 GW was installed in 2011), it will be large enough for them to get in.
That should be in about three years.
NextEra to Buy Blythe
NextEra Energy says it will buy the 1,000 megawatt (MW) Blythe solar project in California, which will be the biggest solar plant in the world.
NextEra is the highest bidder in an auction for the assets of Solar Trust of America, which recently declared bankruptcy. The project has all permits and grid connection rights.
Last week, BrightSource Energy placed the top bid to to buy the 500 MW Palen Solar Power Project in California. There’s one more unfinished projects to be sold off, a 500 MW project in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, still in the planning phase.
400 MW Solar Project in Texas
OCI Solar Power, a subsidiary of a South Korean chemical company, and Nexolon, also from South Korea, are building two, 200 MW solar farms in the San Antonio, Texas area.
They both will open headquarters there and Nexolon will have a manufacturing plant there to make the solar panels.
The project is the "cornerstone of OCI’s emerging green business in North America," board chair Kirk Milling told San Antonia Express News.
OCI has 350 MW of solar farms at various stages of development in the US, mostly in the Northeast. The 36 projects range from 2-20 MW.
Nexolon went public last year on the Korea Exchange. The founder’s father chairs OCI, which is one of the biggest producers of polysilicon in the world.
Soladigm Raises $55 Million
Soladigm, which makes "dynamic glass" for buildings, closed a $55 million Series D equity round financing, bringing its total raised to $125 million.
The round is co-led by Reinet Investments and NanoDimension, and existing investors participated: DBL Investors, GE, Khosla Ventures, Navitas Capital, Sigma Partners, and The Westly Group.
Soladigm’s glass changes from clear to tint on demand, enabling control of heat and glare in buildings while providing greater comfort, uninterrupted views, and natural daylight. The Dynamic Glass can significantly reduce heating, ventilation and air conditioning use, especially during times of peak load.
It’s one of the green companies that’s been lured to Mississippi.
Dynamic smart windows are one of the high growth segments of the green building industry.
Read more about Soladigm:
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