General Electric (NYSE: GE) made investments in two startups this week. The company’s Energy Financial Services participated in a $23 million funding round for Israeli firm SolarEdge. The company says its technology increases solar power systems’ output
by up to 25%. The amount of GE’s contribution was not disclosed.
SolarEdge plans to use the funds to grow its business in residential and large-scale photovoltaic sites.
The other investment was in smart grid software developer Tendril. Tendril said the investment will broaden its relationship with GE beyond their current collaboration on smart appliances. In July Tendril announced that it would integrate its suite of energy management applications called the Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE) to communicate with GE appliances. No further details were given about future collaborations or the amount of the equity investment.
Morgan Solar Inc., a Toronto-based solar energy start-up secured $4.7 million in Round A funding from Iberdrola Group, Turnstone Capital and Nypro. Morgan Solar has developed a Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic (CPV)
panel called the Sun Simba HCPV designed for utility scale and large
distributed generation applications. Renewable energy developer Iberdrola is expected to provide a path to market for the technology, and Nypro, which specializes in injection molding and contract manufacturing, will assist with the ramp up to commercial production in late 2010.
Billionaire George Soros said he plans to invest $1 billion in
cleantech in an effort to address climate change. Speaking at a media event in Copenhagen over the weekend, he also
announced the creation of a climate policy initiative that he will
fund at $10 million a year over the next decade. Soros told Reuters that the "science [on global warming] is clear,
what is less clear is whether world leaders will demonstrate the
political will necessary to solve the problem." He gave few details about his investment plans, stating only that he
would apply stringent criteria and look for profitable opportunities
that will help solve the problem of climate
change.
American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) Tuesday announced
that the company’s high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire will be
utilized in a massive transmission project, called the Tres Amigas
Project. The project, located in New Mexico will connect the nation’s three separate power grids, also known as interconnections. According to Tres Amigas, LLC, the group developing the project, the hub will be capable of transferring and balancing gigawatts of renewable power
between the three interconnections, allowing regions without renewable energy to purchase it from sources connected to other grids. The project was announced Tuesday in Albuquerque by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. New Mexico’s State Land Office already has granted Tres Amigas the right to lease 14,400 acres of land in Clovis New Mexico, where there is access to all three of the nation’s power grids.
G24 Innovations (G24i) announced its first shipment of Dye-Sensitized
Solar Cell (DSSC) modules to a bag manufacturer in Hong Kong. G24i said it marks the first commercial shipment of DSSC ever by any company. The flexible modules will be integrated into a range of bags
targeting the consumer market. The panel will harvest energy while used
outdoors as well as in low light conditions indoors and recharge mobile
electronic devices such as mobile phones, e-books, cameras, and
portable LED lighting systems. Sample bags were on display this week at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, and they are likely to reach store shelves before Christmas.
Ocean waves off the coast of Texas may soon provide the first
commercial wave power in the U.S. to generate electricity and
desalinate water. The Texas General Land Office has granted the first-ever state
off-shore wave energy lease to Texas-based Renew Blue Inc. (RBI). The
company plans to use ocean water and waves to produce desalinated drinking water. Renew Blue is a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Independent Natural Resources
Inc. (INRITM), which owns licensing rights to the Seadog Pump, a
technology that harnesses the power of ocean waves to generate
electricity. RBI will bottle and distribute the desalinated
water under the brand Renew Blue(TM), and the project is meant to demonstrate the potential of the technology for other regions of the world where fresh water is limited.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) has selected four sites for the installation of
rooftop solar energy systems that mark the first phase of the utility’s
distributed solar generation program in North Carolina. The sites will host a combined capacity of about 5 megawatts (MW) of power–roughly half of the 10 MW approved by the state’s Utilities Commission. Sites were chosen for their access to the power grid and the installations are expected to be completed by the end of 1Q10.
Pattern Energy Group LP announced the closing of financing
and beginning of construction for a 100 MW wind project in Shasta County California. It’s the
first large-scale wind project to begin construction this year in
California. Six separate banks are involved in the financing, which may suggest the credit freeze affecting renewable energy
projects may be starting to thaw. Pattern Energy was formed in June of this year when private equity group Riverstone Holdings purchased the wind power development pipeline and team from Babcock & Brown.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced it is joining with Honeywell’s UOP (NYSE:
HON) to commission a study on the sustainability of a family of
saltwater-based plants that may be capable of producing renewable jet
fuel. The study is being commissioned as part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group consortium. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi will lead
the study, which will examine the overall potential for sustainable,
large-scale production of biofuels made from halophytes like the saltwater mangrove. These plants can thrive in arid climates and can be irrigated with saltwater, meaning that they would not drain freshwater supplies for food crops or human consumption.
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