SolarCity Raises $81 Million In Growth Capital

Posted on February 29, 2012 by quest

SolarCity today announced that it has raised $81 million in equity financing. SolarCity allows homeowners, businesses and non-profit organizations to buy renewable energy for less than they currently pay for electricity from utilities. The company has more than 30,000 clean energy projects completed or underway. The round was co-led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk and Valor Equity Partners, and included investments from Nicholas J. Pritzker, partner at Tao Ventures and senior development advisor for Hyatt Hotels Corp., and Shea Ventures, an affiliate of SolarCity partner Shea Homes. SolarCity Chairman Elon Musk and existing SolarCity investor DBL Investors also participated. The new financing will fund SolarCity’s expansion of sales, marketing and operations, technology development and potential acquisitions.

“Individuals and organizations of all shapes and sizes are fed up with the growing cost and consequences of traditional energy,” said Lyndon Rive, SolarCity’s CEO. “This investment provides SolarCity the resources to explore new products and services and identify new geographies and potential acquisitions as we seek to deliver better energy choices to more customers.”Silver Lake Kraftwerk (SLK) is an investment strategy of Silver Lake, the global leader in private investments in technology and technology-enabled industries. SLK was created to provide growth capital to innovators in the energy and resource sectors.

“SolarCity is the leader in its space,” said Raj Atluru, co-founder of Silver Lake Kraftwerk. “The company’s unique, vertically-integrated model, paired with incentives and falling technology costs, allows it to provide solar electricity to customers at lower rates than they pay for utility power. We’ve thoroughly analyzed SolarCity’s full-service approach to solar and energy efficiency and we believe it has the ability to deliver superior customer experience and service across multiple sectors.”Valor Equity Partners pursues investments in leaders in their respective markets. Valor is also an investor in Tesla Motors.

Monsanto asks scientists about global warming

Yingli Solar and Grid Alternatives Powering People

Posted on February 28, 2012 by quest

Yingli Solar a sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil today announced it has renewed its strategic partnership throughout 2012 with the Oakland-based nonprofit solar installer, GRID Alternatives. Yingli Americas’ 2012 agreement with GRID Alternatives builds on a 1MW partnership launched in 2011 that brought clean power to over 400 low-income homeowners across California, saving them an estimated US$11 million over the systems’ lifetimes, while giving hands-on solar installation experience to thousands of workers. GRID Alternatives’ mission is to empower communities in need by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training. It has provided no or low-cost solar electric systems for more than 1700 families since 2004 while serving as a “classroom in the field” for solar job trainees.

“Yingli’s continued support for GRID Alternatives’ mission means millions more in long-term savings for low-income families that need them most, thousands more learning opportunities for green job seekers and a win for the environment,” said Erica Mackie, Executive Director and Co-Founder of GRID Alternatives. “We’re thrilled that they decided to renew their commitment, especially as we begin replicating our model beyond California.”

“Supporting our local communities through corporate social responsibility initiatives is something we care deeply about, and we are very proud to be official partners with GRID Alternatives,” said Robert Petrina, Managing Director of Yingli Americas. “Our combined teams were a great fit from the start given our common goals for protecting the environment and helping those in need.”Helena Kimball, Head of Marketing, Yingli Americas said, “Listening to the stories of these families and job seekers that we’ve helped and participated alongside has been remarkable, and we are excited to be expanding the program even further this year. Renewable energy is inherently about helping people who need energy most, and with more than 800 financially challenged families powered by the end of this year, we’ve gone beyond what we imagined possible at the onset of this program.”

Right To Know Genetically Modified Organisms

World’s Largest Electric Bus Fleet Expanding In China

Posted on February 27, 2012 by quest

Solar and electric company BYD already with the largest zero-emissions fleet in serviceworld-wide will add 1500 pure electric K9 buses and e6 taxis to the public transportation fleet in Shenzhen City. Commenting on these successes, Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission Director Xiangzhen Lu said, “Shenzhen is the first city in China to implement a subsidy for new energy vehicles and the first city to launch consumer sales of the BYD e6.” The zero-emissions Taxi fleet has already given many consumers their first experience with the BYD all-electric, 5-passenger e6, China’s first long-range, pure-electric car. SDRC cited rising oil prices and growing environmental pressures as key reasons to transform the public transportation system. Shenzhen City believes electrified transportation offers the most effective way to simultaneously stimulate economic recovery while restoring the environment by lowering CO2 emissions.

Shenzhen City will also establish new policies in hopes of encouraging private EV use. The SDRC announced that Shenzhen is formulating measures to impose fees on emissions from gasoline cars while rewarding alternative energy vehicle drivers based on distance traveled. Other incentive policies include allowing pure electric drivers to use the public bus lane during rush hour, insurance privileges, and free annual maintenance checks. The city of Shenzhen is also trying to manage its 200,000 plus electric bikes and has recently introduced restrictions which are to go into effect in April.

China’s Southern Power Grid Company has agreed to install free-of-charge, two electric vehicle charging poles for each Shenzhen EV driver — one at the home or apartment of the driver and another near the EV driver’s place of business. Shenzhen City continues to offer extremely affordable peak and off-peak electricity prices for new energy vehicle users, reducing nightly charging costs. The SDRC predicts that private alternative energy vehicle use in Shenzhen will increase by 3000 units in 2012 and plans to install and support over 6,000 new charging pedestals accordingly. BYD’s North American headquarters are in Los Angeles.

The Pied Piper of Solar

Obama Calls For Extending US Solar Programs

Mars Opens Solar Garden At Chocolate Factory

Posted on February 24, 2012 by quest

Mars Chocolate North America, makers of Las Vegas’ own Ethel M Chocolates, announced today the grand opening of a new solar garden at its Henderson chocolate factory. The state-of-the-art solar installation provides 100 percent of the electrical energy to the Ethel Ms plant during peak operating hours.The project’s completion was commemorated with a ribbon-cutting event attended by state and local government officials, executives from NV Energy, juwi solar Inc. (JSI), and Mars Chocolate North America leaders. “At Mars Chocolate North America, we have the opportunity to make a difference in the world,” said Mike Wittman, vice president of supply. “We are proud of the investments we are making to ensure we are using the earth’s resources responsibly. This newest solar garden moves us closer to our goals of eliminating our carbon footprint at our sites by 2040 and using 100 percent renewable energy.”

Mack Phillips site director of the Henderson plant said, “Turning one of the desert’s greatest assets into energy is in complete alignment with Mars’ Principles in Action, our core business values.Two years ago we unveiled a similar solar project at our North American headquarters in Hackettstown, NJ, and its impact on our operations has been substantial.””This is the second solar PV project built by juwi solar on Mars-owned property,” said Michael Martin, CEO of JSI. “We are proud to play a role in advancing environmental and sustainability goals by replacing the grid’s brown power with green power generated onsite.” The solar garden is adjacent to the chocolate factory and Ethel M’s Botanical Cactus Garden. A vista point located within the Botanical Cactus Garden will allow the more than 700,000 annual visitors to view the new solar facility.”We are fortunate to have been a part of the Henderson and Las Vegas community for more than 30 years,” said Phillips. “We hope the completion of our solar garden demonstrates our continuing commitment to be an environmentally friendly citizen. Our goal is that every business decision we make will have a positive effect on people and the planet through our performance. This project achieves all three.”

The new Ethel M factory solar garden features 2,112 ground-mounted solar panels on 4.4 acres, and is the largest solar installation by a food manufacturer in Nevada. The installation generates 1,258 megawatt hours of zero-emission electricity each year, offsetting 867 metric tons of greenhouse gas – the equivalent of removing approximately 170 vehicles from the road. The project will generate as much energy as 115 Nevada households use annually. Mars will purchase all of the energy generated by the solar garden and JSI will own the project and its associated energy credits. Mars worked closely with NV Energy to ensure that the new installation met net metering requirements, enabling Mars to receive energy offsets from the utility based on the amount of energy their solar panels will produce.

Los Angeles Growing Green & Cleantech Businesses

Posted on February 22, 2012 by quest

Not only is LA becoming a hub for electric vehicle companies, in October 2011 Los Angeles launched its new cleantech business incubator (LACI) to accelerate development of cleantech start-ups by offering flexible office space, CEO coaching and mentoring, and access to a growing network of experts and capital. LACI is the business equivalent of baseball’s farm system: it identifies local talent, nurtures it, and helps it get to market, resulting in more jobs and a bigger green economy in Los Angeles.The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) announced the acceptance of California Lithium Battery (CALiB) into its Portfolio Company Program making it the sixth start-up in LACI’s portfolio. CALiB has licensed new technology from the Argonne National Labs that improves the performance of lithium batteries by 3X. CALiB’s goal is to be the leading United States-based developer and manufacturer of high performance Very Large Format lithium batteries for utility energy storage, EVs and specialized industrial applications.

Fred Walti, Executive Director of LACI said,“Developing game changing technology in energy storage is a key requirement for wider adoption of sustainable energy. We’re impressed with California Lithium’s technology, which has been developed and validated by the Argonne National Labs, and its business strategy to enter the utility scale energy storage market. While it’s too early to declare victory, CALiB’s batteries could effectively lower the Li-ion battery cost by 70%,”

“LA is emerging as the new global test center for advanced energy technologies and we thank Mayor Villaraigosa and the LADWP for their stewardship of the LACI” said Phil Roberts, CEO of CalBattery. He continued, “as a great example of public private partnership that is helping small businesses do big things for their community. The help and connections of the LACI it will enable CalBattery to create good manufacturing jobs stemming from our new energy storage and EV lithium silicon-graphene battery made in LA for export to the entire global community.” It was just this past October Mayor Villaraigosa welcomed solar and electric vehicle maker, BYD to its North American headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, and In November 2011 Electric maker Coda also set LA as its global headquarters.

Apple Using Solar Power To Power Itself

Posted on February 21, 2012 by quest

Apple isn’t the first, Google is already there and it’s a pretty safe bet other big, medium and smaller companies will follow and go solar. The Solar Foundation an industry trade organization has reported that there are now over 100,000 people employed in the U. S . solar industry, and that figure is expected to rise dramatically. To meet its energy needs the company, Apple has announced new energy efficiency initiatives at its North Carolina Maiden data facility and have embarked on an industry-leading renewable energy program.

Apple is building the nation’s largest end user–owned, onsite solar array on the land surrounding the data center. When completed, this 100-acre, 20-megawatt facility will supply 42 million kWh of clean, renewable energy annually. In addition the computer maker is is building a fuel cell installation that will be the largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the country. The 5-megawatt facility, located directly adjacent to the data center, will be powered by 100 percent biogas, and provide more than 40 million kWh of 24×7 baseload renewable energy annually.

With these developments one has to wonder what impact Apple might have on the solar industry if it began manufacturing solar panels. Apple says it’s “committed to pursuing energy-efficient growth by increasing our renewable energy participation to match the growing needs of our data center—through our own projects as well as partnerships with utilities and renewable energy providers.”