released their projections for the “Hot applications in 2010” yesterday.  Two items caught my eye: the smart grid, and flexible electronics.

The flexible electronics article points out many of the advantages, and the current roadblocks.  They missed mentioning some of the companies that I’ve highlighted in the past (Nanosolar, Solexant, and the research at UIUC).  It is good to see this being recognized as a major area of innovation, though.

The smart grid article is dead on.  This is a huge opportunity for several reasons.

• Financial – The upside to tackling the grid is huge.  This quote from John Doerr (VC) in the article sums it up very well:

Today the Internet represents a $1 trillion economy, and there are some 1.2 billion people on the Net. But energy is a $6 trillion economy, 4 billion people use it, and there hasn’t been innovation here …

There is huge potential for the jobs created in the development and installation of the grid itself and the industries that it will enable (energy generation and storage technologies, metering, …).  The real financial upside comes from the long range benefits to our society.  Once you develop a robust distributed energy network, it works as long term insurance against future price and resource fluctuation as oil and gas become more scarce or politically unstable.  Rebuilding a crumbling energy infrastructure will promote the same benefit to commerce that the canals, railways, and interstate system did.

The costs of not embracing this challenge are the same as a business in 1998 deciding not to invest in computers and the internet because they were “too expensive”.  How many typewriters are still selling like hotcakes?

• Environmental - This one is obvious.  The energy efficiency from a new network would help reduce the amount of energy required to be generated.  This reduces the load on the environment, regardless of embracing new clean tech.  Smart metering has been proven to cause consumers to lower their usage.  The bigger benefit comes from enabling distributed renewable sources to be added and shared among consumers.  This resolves a major sticking point raised by RE skeptics, the intermittent nature of wind/water/solar power.  Scientific American’s recent article focusing on this is an excellent proposal.

• Aspirational -This should not be trivialized compared to the first two.  Yes, you can’t monetize aspiration, but it’s possibly the most important reason.  Challenges, new horizons, and the inherent creative nature of Man plays a big role in the quality of life.  Challenges like going to the moon, eradicating polio, exploring a new continent, have always been a driving force behind evolution.  This goal of rebuilding our energy ecosystem is the kind of challenge that can help inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers.  It can help people re-examine their current lifestyles and make better choices.  It gives you a mountain to climb.  The end benefit of aspiration is a whole generation of new scientists, creating a new array of technologies that will impact the whole planet.

-Rob

December 10th, 2009

Bend, Oregon

Thin film solar maker Nanosolar pulled back the kimono a bit last month, discussing some tech advances and demonstrating that it’s moved into high volume production. And now it’s time for more details about partnership announcements, considering the big solar conference Solar Power International 2009 is next week — this morning Nanosolar said it’s partnered with mounting system maker SunLink.

SunLink is developing custom mounting technology for Nanosolar that will stick Nanosolar’s thin film flat panels onto rooftops in a three step installation process, with less materials needed and at a lower cost. SunLink says that it used computer simulations and wind tunnel testing over the course of 2 years to figure out the best way to engineer the mounting architecture. Will we get to see it at the Solar Power convention? I hope so, though SunLink says the combined Nanosolar panel and mounting system will be available for purchase in “early 2010.”

It might just be one partnership deal, but for those who’ve followed Nanosolar for awhile, and have been eagerly awaiting the company to move into commercial production, this seems like a significant step. And it’s interesting that Nanosolar looked for a custom solution, rather than finding one that was already on the market. The deal is also a high-profile one for San Rafael, Calif.-based SunLink, which says its mounting technology is already being used in 60 MW of projects across 400 sites.

Now that Nanosolar is saying that it’s panels will be for sale in “early 2010,” it shows how long it takes from the first initial productions to commercial production for these advanced thin film solar makers. Nanosolar first claimed to start production in December of 2007, so it will have taken over two complete years to ramp up between that time. Not that it should take any less time, given the very new nature of the technology and the production process. Now we’ll be waiting to see the panels go on sale within the first half of 2010.

source: http://earth2tech.com/2009/10/20/nanosolar-hooks-up-with-sunlink-mounting-systems/

Carbon nanotube photovoltaics can wring twice the charge from light. Today’s solar cells lose much of the energy in light to heat. Now researchers at Cornell University have made a photovoltaic cell out of a single carbon nanotube that can take advantage of more of the energy in light than conventional photovoltaics. The tiny carbon tubes might eventually be used to make more-efficient next-generation solar cells. “The main limiting factor in a solar cell is that when you absorb a high-energy photon, you lose energy to heat, and there’s no way to recover it,” says Matthew Beard, a senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO. Loss of energy to heat limits the efficiency of the best solar cells to about 33 percent. ”The material that can convert at a much higher efficiency will be a game-changer,” says Beard. Read the article at: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23471/and use the link for the full story in the journal, Science: http://sciencemag.org/

Just read the MIT Technology Review special edition for 2009, focusing on energy. Lots of good ideas and information. I highly recommend subscribing to this publication. It has a good mix of technology, business, and society.

Some notes…

Vinod Khosla -
Recognized as the most successful VC. He brings the entreprenurial spirit of San Jose to the world of renewable energy. He sees biofuels and CPV as the primary drivers for RE. PV and electric vehicles are long term, but not immediate solutions. Some quotes:
“if it can’t scale up, it’s just a toy”
“any technology not adoptable by China and India is irrelevant to climate change”

(formerly known as … SunEthanol) -
A biotech company in the East that is using bacterium to direcy create ethanol. Have working sample, which is a big differentiator. If the direct synthesis of hydrocarbons from bacteria works, this would be of less interest.

Corn v. Cellulosic -
Very interesting review of corn versus cellulosic based ethanol. Corn is not a good vehicle here, due to low returns for energy input, its impact on the food supply, and the ariable land required. The stumbling block for cellulosic is getting a commercial scale plant online. Personally, I don’t see this as a roadblock. Given the right incentives, industry will rise to the challenge.

Corn ethanol – 1.3x energy return with 12-26% greenhouse gas reduction.
Cellulose ethanol – 10x and 82-85%

and -
Building the 1st commerical scale cellulosic ethanol plants.

and
Two companies working to modify organisms to produce hydrocarbons. This is important since ethanol cannot be sent through the exisiting pipes built for oil. Unlike oil, ethanol mixes with water, and would require distribution through rail. Much more expensive. Getting a method to create hydrocarbons directly from organisms would be a major breakthrough.

Promethean Power Systems – Building cheap, off grid cooling systems for food storage. using thermoelectric and compression cooling. For India. Existing diesel systems are about $12000 (without fuel cost). Promethean systems are 20% more efficient and cost less using off the shelf components. Advances in thermoelectric materials can boost efficiency to 40%. (thermoelectric = voltage induced temp gradient) This left me wondering if you could you use thermoelectric for power storage? Efficiencies are high compared to PV.

GMZ Energy – producing a 40% boost in effeciency of thermoelectric materials

Flexible solar cells -
UIUC researcher John Rogers, 12% now need to get to15%. 10x less Si than traditional mfg. The patterned thin film method allows the solar panels to be transparent (think PV windows). This seems similar to what Nanosolar and Solexant are doing.

One of the premier companies working on advanced rechargeable batteries. Specializing in Li-ion batteries with nanoparticles to improve the electrodes. They solved eclectrode saftey and lifecycle issues that plagued other Li-ion batteries. Stores >2x energy than Ni-metal hydride. $14.8M VC funding (may 2008). In Black and Decker cordless in 2006. Lost to LG Chem for use in the GM Volt, but made it into the Chrysler ENVI.

Daniel Nocera -
MIT chemist using sunlight to split water. The concept is essentially artificial photosynthesis (“we’ve made a leaf”). Since one of the byproducts of using the Hydrogen energy is pure water, it could also treat seawater into drinking water. The goal would be to use hydrogen as a cheap and easy way to store electricity from solar. Cons are low current density (1-10mA/cm2 vs 1000 for existing commercial electrolyzers) and ineffeciency (solar to elect to fuel to elect, the 2nd law of thermodynamics is a tough one). Possibility to merge with Gratzel dye-based solar cell to combine solar panel and electrolyzers for better efficiency. The article. Overview of research.

Only US based grid-tied photovoltaic inverter company.  Inverters convert the electricity from solar panels (DC) to power that can be used in the home or injected back to the grid (AC).  Their key differentiator: quality and reliability through simplicity of design.  They are a local Bend company and the kind of home grown industry needed throughout the economy.  Recent stimulus and marketplace wins have them projected to triple their revenue in 2009 and 2010 (Powered Up)

Palo Alto based company that is doing truly remarkable work for changing the world.  Better place is tackling the infrastructure to support electric vehicles.  This is a brilliant idea, as so many are working on cars, but a frequent obstacle to replacing fossil fuel for transport is always the network required to support our car-based lifestyle.  Their CEO, Shai Aggasi came from software and services giant, SAP AG.  This company was born out of a session at the Davos economic conference where participants were challenged to come up with ways to make the world a “better place”.  Installations are already in Israel, and planned in Hawaii, California, Canada and others.  Partnerships are forged with Renault, and the list goes on…  They have incredible star power and momentum.  In April 2008, Deutsche Bank analysts reportedly concluded that the company’s approach could be a “paradigm shift” that causes “massive disruption” to the auto industry, and which has “the potential to eliminate the gasoline engine altogether.” (“Deutsche Bank: Project Better Place has “the potential to eliminate the gasoline engine”)

Tesla motors is to electric vehicles what Apple is to computing and entertainment.  Rather than just making an electric car because it’s better for the environment, they built a sports car that you would want to drive because it was sexy, powerful, oh and it’s good for the environment.  Applying principals like good design and targeting beyond the stereotypical “green granola hippie” consumer has made Tesla successful.  Their roadster is already in production, and a more “sensible” sedan is on the way.  Did I mention the roadster goes 0 to 60 in 4 seconds?  Good luck Detroit.

Nanosolar is attacking the problem of manufacturing solar panels.  Traditionally, this was done no different than how integrated circuit wafers are made.  This made sense since there was such a big infrastructure already in place to support the fabrication.  However, the process is costly, uses very expensive materials, and doesn’t provide solar panel manufactures with a good way to screen out defective panels before they sink a lot of cost framing and packaging them.  Nanosolar adapted “the economics of printing” to dramatically reduce the cost of making and deploying panels.  Making the technology more affordable is key to wide spread adoption of solar.

-Rob

November 18, 2009

Seattle, WA

Nanosolar is the answer

the company will increase its monthly production rate to deliver on its contractual customer commitments totaling $4.1 billion to date.

Thin film solar maker Nanosolar pulled back the kimono a bit last month, discussing some tech advances and demonstrating that it’s moved into high volume production. And now it’s time for more details about partnership announcements, considering the big solar conference Solar Power International 2009 is next week — this morning Nanosolar said it’s partnered with mounting system maker SunLink.

SunLink is developing custom mounting technology for Nanosolar that will stick Nanosolar’s thin film flat panels onto rooftops in a three step installation process, with less materials needed and at a lower cost. SunLink says that it used computer simulations and wind tunnel testing over the course of 2 years to figure out the best way to engineer the mounting architecture. Will we get to see it at the Solar Power convention? I hope so, though SunLink says the combined Nanosolar panel and mounting system will be available for purchase in “early 2010.”

It might just be one partnership deal, but for those who’ve followed Nanosolar for awhile, and have been eagerly awaiting the company to move into commercial production, this seems like a significant step. And it’s interesting that Nanosolar looked for a custom solution, rather than finding one that was already on the market. The deal is also a high-profile one for San Rafael, Calif.-based SunLink, which says its mounting technology is already being used in 60 MW of projects across 400 sites.

Now that Nanosolar is saying that it’s panels will be for sale in “early 2010,” it shows how long it takes from the first initial productions to commercial production for these advanced thin film solar makers. Nanosolar first claimed to start production in December of 2007, so it will have taken over two complete years to ramp up between that time. Not that it should take any less time, given the very new nature of the technology and the production process. Now we’ll be waiting to see the panels go on sale within the first half of 2010.

First Solar may be the world’s largest pure-play solar cell supplier and, as of Friday, the first all-renewables company to join the S&P 500.

Nanosolar, which prints solar cells on aluminum foil, claims greater capital efficiency than First Solar

But this won’t shield it from digs by its competitors, including wannabe Nanosolar. Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen took aim at his larger competitor earlier this week, claiming several key advantages, including capital efficiency.

“We are three times as capital efficient as First Solar,” said Roscheisen, referring to the ratio between the amount of money the San Jose thin-film cell maker spends on manufacturing and its production output.

This will be a significant advantage as both companies invest to grow larger, he said.

Nanosolar, which prints its solar cells on aluminum foil, also has 30 percent lower labor costs. And it can make due with cabling only one-quarter the length of the cables used by First Solar, Roscheisen added during a presentation at the Silicon Valley Photo Voltaics Society.

The executive went on to say his production yields are rising rapidly. However, with First Solar commanding 12.8 percent of the market, almost double its nearest competitor, Nanosolar has a lot of ground to make up.

It will take more than words.

The economic collapse of 2008 turned the credit market for large-scale solar farms into a financial desert.

Capital was simply not availability through much of the year. The constraint eased modestly in recent months. Now there are suggestions money may begin to flow again next year

Solar projects are bankable because investors are seeking safer returns, says Martin Roscheisen of Nanosolar

Industry executives say market conditions remain difficult. “Lenders are holding onto their money much more tightly,” says Dan Judge, general counsel of solar thermal company BrightSource Energy. “The market is not what it was in 2005 and 2006.”

But there are signs that investors and banks have shifted their focus from risky financial derivatives and complex Wall Street instruments to the relative safety of long-term energy projects. There also are suggestions new banks from Europe and Asia may begin lending for solar construction, expanding a small field of only eight to 12 banks working on projects today.

Next year should see significant growth in solar projects between 10 and 50 MW in size, says Ban Jacoby, managing director of energy investment consultants CP Energy.

The rise in competition for deals also may lower expected investment returns, which by some estimates have reached a percentage in the mid teens, compared with a more traditional single-digit rate.

Already an easing of credit hurdles is aiding wind power developers, where less risky deals are getting done.

At present “there are (solar) deals getting done, but there is not a lot of liquidity in the market,” reports Tom Glascock, a partner at the San Francisco law firm of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Yet despite the difficult environment, thin-film solar projects are “bankable,” says Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Nanosolar. Capital is seeking safe returns and solar projects fit the bill because they are backed by electric rate payers, he said.

September was a very big month for the solar panel industry.  Two global thin film heavyweights, First Solar and Nanosolar, issued their biggest press releases of the year a mere two days apart.  Clearly, a tango of soap oprian dimension.  One has to ask:  Who exactly won this autumnal arm wrestling match?

On September 7th and 8th, First Solar issued a series of releases proclaiming a Herculean deal with China to build the largest solar farm in the world. Then, on September 9th, Nanosolar fired back, putting some hard numbers on the board for the first time by announcing over $4 billion in placed orders. It simultaneously issued a white paper promising amperage capacity that beats First Solar by a factor of 6….calling First Solar out by name in a head-to-head comparison.

Did First Solar get Nanosolar’s goat with the earlier press release?  Apparently, Nanosolar had set earlier expectations for a big announcement to come on September 9th.  So the September 7th and 8th releases by First Solar could have been a deliberate maneuver to steal press attention away.  Surely Nanosolar had competed for the China deal.

You haven’t heard the last from these titans. The winner will most likely be the planet.  BRAVO, Nanosolar; and BRAVO, First Solar!

-SevenCell
http://sevencell.wordpress.com

(Note this is the replacement for this lost post without some of the additional commentary on the feasibility of alternative power.)

Via KurzweilAI.net:

Advanced Solar Panels Coming to Market

Technology Review, Sept. 17, 2009 Nanosolar has opened an automated facility for manufacturing its solar panels, and says power plants made using these panels could produce electricity at five to six cents per kilowatt hour — near the cost of electricity from coal and significantly less than most solar power, which costs about 18 to 22 cents per kilowatt hour. The panels are made by printing a semiconductor material called CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenium) on aluminum foil. Nanosolar’s new, fully automated solar-panel manufacturing facility (Nanosolar) Read Original Article>>

[Note: this post was lost in WordPress somehow. Hit this link for new post sans my expanded commentary from the lost original.]

There is no bigger barrier to the adoption of solar panels than cost. Right now, many of the new projects featuring significant solar installations are able to make cost structures work by applying for government grants and stipends.

But a company called Nanosolar has developed a high-speed process for printing solar cells on cheap aluminum. They believe the technique will dramatically reduce the cost of solar panels, which will in turn lead to widescale adoption.

The founders of Google believe the technology is a winner — both are investors in the company.

This Might Be the Future of Solar Power [GOOD]

Nanosolar pulled back the curtain on its thin-film photovoltaic cell technology — which it claims is more efficient and less expensive than that of industry leader First Solar — and announced that it has secured $4.1 billion in orders for its solar panels. The company said that the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory had verified that its cells achieved 16.4 percent efficiency – the highest recorded for a printed photovoltaic cell – and its solar panels have efficiency greater than 11 percent.

Is photovoltaic (PV) solar power about to reach a tipping point and come of age?   A couple of announcements yesterday imply that it might be – and not just for niche markets and remote locations but for grid power – although sadly only in rather sunnier climes than Britain!

Arizona based First Solar has announced that it has concluded a memorandum of agreement with the Chinese Government to build a massive 2 gigawatt solar plant near Ordos City on the dry steppe of Inner Mongolia about 300 miles west of Beijing.   Construction will start next year with a 30 megawatt demonstration project and then proceed by stages until completed by 2019.  To put this in context that means that, when completed, this single plant will have a capacity equal to the entire UK fleet of wind farms as of January 2007.

Also yesterday, California based Nanosolar announced the opening of a new factory near Berlin to assemble finished panels from their PV cells.  When production is fully ramped up the highly automated factory will produce a panel every 10 seconds for an annual production of 640 MW.  All are destined for utilities and customer committments totalling $4.1 billion to date are claimed.   Nanosolar modules have been designed from the outset to lower the ‘balance-of-system’ costs – i.e. the costs of mounting, connecting etc. so that the overall installation cost is minimised.  They also revealed that their cells achieve up to verified efficiency off up to 16.4% although the median is a litttle better than 11%.  

Now PV has been around for a long time but its high cost has always ruled its use out except for niche applications.   To be a serious player it has long considered that vendors would have to get the capital cost down to around US$1 per watt and produce electricity at a cost of around 10 cents per KWh and yesterday’s announcements imply that both companies believe these goals to be within sight.

First Solar is relatively happy to discuss costs and claims that by the second quarter of this year its module cost had fallen to just $0.87/watt and it projects further declines to $0.52 – $0.63 by 2014.   At the same time it is working to reduce balance-of-system costs and is targeting a cost of $0.91 – $0.98 /watt, again by 2014.

These projected costs possibly explain the phasing of the Chinese project; half the contemplated capacity will be added in the final phase to start construction only in 2014 – i.e. only when costs are rather lower than currently.   In the meantime the Chinese have guaranteed the project’s revenues by means of a feed-in tariff which First Solar considers vital as they drive their costs towards ‘grid parity’ – where they become fully competitive with conventional sources.

Nanosolar uses a different technology and has developed a method of printing a thin film of semiconductor onto a flexible metal foil which it claims is 100 times faster than conventional high-vacuum deposition and which certainly ought to be highly cost-effective.   The company is coy about costs but claims that its utility panels are ‘profitable in a wide range of geographies and power markets’.   According to Wikipedia cell costs have been reported as only 36 cents /peak watt (which Nanosolar declines to comment on);  if even approximately correct this represents an amazing breakthrough and implies that they are already at the tipping point – or as near as makes no difference.

So what does all this mean for us in the UK? 

Firstly, I don’t believe we are going to get a significant development of solar energy in Britain.   We are simply too far north and too cloudy.   However, on a global scale it does begin to provide alternatives that will very quickly become important once grid parity (or even a reasonable approximation) is achieved. 

Secondly, it highlights that an immense immense amount of R&D is going on into alternative energy sources and that some of that is getting very close to commerciality.   While both these companies happen to work in the field of PV, others are making equally impressive progress in solar-concentrating systems (that use sunlight to create steam to drive a conventional turbine) and in nuclear.  I think it likely that 20 years from now electricity will cost less in real terms than currently. 

Thirdly,  the UK needs to do far more to create a favourable environment for R&D led companies.  Even now, while the Chinese are getting in at the ground floor, DECC is still consulting on a feed-in tariff system with a view to it being introduced only in April 2010.  (To be fair to Ed Balls, the announcement of his support in principle for feed-in tariffs was one of his first acts on becoming Minister – but that does not excuse the government’s prior tardiness).

Fourthly,  maybe we don’t need to worry quite so much about carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere for the future.   We’re not there quite yet but we appear to be getting close to having technical alternatives to carbon-based technolocgies for generating electricity.  Although the total amount of PV out there is miniscule in comparison with conventional capacity, it will ramp up very fast once the economics favour it.

Thin film solar startup Nanosolar’s quiet period is over. This morning the seven-year-old company, in a flurry of press releases announced that it has started high volume production of its thin film solar material at its factory in San Jose, Calif., and has finished construction on a panel-assembly factory near Berlin, Germany. Nanosolar also detailed some of its previously unknown technology advances.

So is the San Jose, Calif.-based company in long-awaited commercial production yet? Nope, but almost. Nanosolar is calling today’s milestone “serial production,” or basically getting really close to the level of production that it needs to make its solar panels widely available. Nanosolar say it now has a monthly production run rate of “1 million cells per month.” Back at the end of 2007, Nanosolar was one of the first of a wave of the next-generation CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide) thin film solar makers, which claim to produce material for a lower cost, to start producing solar cells at its factory in San Jose. Nanosolar has also spent the last year building its panel assembly plant in Germany.

Nanosolar announced last year that it had created a new tool that could produce up to 1 gigawatt of solar cells annually, with efficiencies of up to 14.5 percent. But the company didn’t disclose its actual production numbers, leading to some speculation about how much it actually had — or had not — been shipping. The company previously said its California factory would have the capacity to produce up to 430 megawatts of solar cells –- and was expected reach this capacity by 2008 -– while the German facility was expected to be able to assemble “multi-100″ megawatts of solar panels.

The only figures the company released on production levels was the “monthly run rate of 1 million cells,” so its unclear how far away commercial production it is. But today’s milestones are still an important step. Producing cutting edge technology at such a scale takes time to ramp up and commercialize and Nanosolar says it already has $4.1 billion in panel purchases from “highly bankable customers including the world’s largest utility power producers.” Likely many of those are European utilities and the company previously announced that it had sold panels to Beck Energy. The company tells us Nanosolar is also working with the renewables subsidiary of EDF, and AES Solar.

There is a need for speed when it comes to the utility scale solar thin film. First Solar (s FSLR) has been all but crushing the market when it comes to utility deals, snagging the world’s largest solar PV plant with the Chinese government and massive deals with PG&E (s PCG) and Southern California Edison. Nanosolar hasn’t seemed to focus at all on the U.S. market.

Nanosolar also detailed some of its technology wins, including an update on its panel efficiency. While Nanosolar previously said it had gained efficiencies of up to 14.5 percent, this morning it says it has achieved efficiencies as high as 16.4 percent, verified by the National Renewable Energy Labs. Nanosolar says this represents two world records: “the most efficient printed solar cell of any kind” for all semiconductor and device technologies, in addition to “the most efficient cell on a truly low-cost metal foil.”

Nanosolar’s two white papers can be found here, the compay’s redesigned website here, and a fun little video here.

About: There isn’t much information on Google Ventures’ website. It describes itself as “Google Ventures seeks to discover and grow great companies – we believe in the power of entrepreneurs to do amazing things. We’re studying a broad range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech and health care. We invest anywhere from seed to mezzanine stage and embrace the challenge of helping young companies grow from the garage to global relevance. Our team includes entrepreneurs, investors and innovators, along with some 20,000+ exceptional Googlers whose breadth of knowledge, experience and creativity constitute perhaps our own most valuable resource. You don’t have to be a potential Google acquisition for us to want to work with you; we’re out to build great companies, period.”

Prior to Google Ventures which was launched in March 2009, Google has been investing in cleantech through its philanthropic arm, Google.org. Google.org aspires to use the power of IT to address the global challenges of our age. Its initiatives in Clean Energy include RE<C (which aims to develop electricity from renewable energy cheaper than coal), RechargeIT (which aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in vehicles) and Google PowerMeter (which aims to develop personal information that helps consumers make smarter energy choices). Google Ventures’ offices are in Mountain View, CA and Cambridge, MA.

www.google.com/ventures
See also www.google.org

Key Personnel:
Bill Maris, Managing Partner
Rich Miner, Managing Partner

Portfolio:
Based on Cleantech Group 2008 report, Google made investments in the following companies: ActaCell, AltaRock Energy, Aptera Motors, Makani Power, Potter Drilling, BrightSource Energy, eSolar
Google Ventures so far invested: Silver Spring Networks, Pixazza

News: In March 2009, Cleantech Group reports that “Google has finally admitted there is validity to the long-standing rumors of a dedicated venture capital arm at the Internet giant. Google has officially launched the VC fund, Google Ventures, with about $100 million to invest in technology startups in software, cleantech, biotech, health care and the Web.

In 2007, Google said it planned to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy over the next few years, creating a research and development initiative called Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, or RE<C, to produce a gigawatt of renewable energy that is cheaper than coal.

But even before creating its venture capital fund, Google has handed out millions to develop or support clean technologies. Some of its investments include:
* $15 million into stealth wind-power startup Makani Power.
* more than $10 million in investments in enhanced geothermal systems: $6.25 million into AltaRock Energy and $4 million into Potter Drilling.
* $2.75 million into Austin, Texas, battery developer ActaCell and Carlsbad, Calif.-based electric car maker Aptera Motors.
* $10 million into Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar and $10 million into Oakland, Calif.’s BrightSource Energy, both developing solar thermal technologies.

Those investments came from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org. But from now on, Google Ventures will oversee the company’s VC investments. So far, the fund has already put cash into Silver Spring Networks.

Response is likely to be overwhelming, especially considering the current limited capital availability. Last time Google put out a call for proposals, it received more than 10 times as many RFPs as it expected. Its $10 million plug-in hybrid request for proposals in 2007 drew more than 300 responses.”

***********************************************

In another article by Reuters in March 2009, it reports “Google Inc is forming a $100 million fund to invest in early-stage start-up firms. The fund, to be called Google Ventures, will be wholly owned by Google, but will operate as a separate entity and will seek investment opportunities to maximize returns rather than looking for investments that strictly fit with Google’s strategic vision.

Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android smart phone software that Google acquired in 2005, and Bill Maris are the fund’s two managing partners. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Miner appeared at an investor conference for Internet start-up companies with a name tag that listed his name alongside Google Ventures.

Miner said on Monday that Google Ventures will look at a wide variety of companies to invest in, including consumer Internet products, information technology, health care and biotech, among other areas. “Just as we were founded by entrepreneurs, we think we can help some of those next entrepreneurs with the next great idea,” said Miner.

Google Ventures has already invested in Pixazza Inc, a photo-based online marketing service and Silver Spring Networks, a company that uses technology to improve the efficiency of power grids. Google has invested in other companies in the past through its philanthropic division, Google.org. While Google.org may continue to make investments from time to time, Maris said that Google Ventures will now function as Google’s “primary vehicle” for making venture-style investments.

Several high-tech companies have in-house venture capital arms, including Intel (INTC.O) and Motorola, But Maris said that Google Ventures will have more in common with traditional venture capital firms. “We’re making financial return our first lens,” said Maris. But he noted that a part of the appeal of Google Ventures for start-up firms is the relationship to Google and its 20,000 employees.

The fund will focus primarily on companies seeking seed funding and early stage funding, and Google Ventures will have the ability to make investments ranging from tens of thousands to “several tens of millions” of dollars, Maris said.”

**********************************************

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin also invested their own money into Nanosolar and Tesla Motors.

See a CNBC interview with Rich Miner here or on vodpod.

Thin-film solar startup Nanosolar isn’t exactly known for being shy. The San Jose, Calif.-based company has attracted plenty of attention –- as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in funding -– for claims that its technology can produce highly efficient copper-indium-gallium-diselenide panels for less than $1 per watt. A post from outspoken CEO Martin Roscheisen back in December, for example, essentially bashed competitor Solyndra, claiming its tube-style design provides no advantage over flat panels.

But Nanosolar has been keeping uncharacteristically mum over the last few months — no press releases, and far fewer of those blog posts. Roscheisen told us recently that the company is purposely keeping quiet and plans to start talking again in September.

It looks like Nanosolar is hard at work, especially as the silence has been combined with a series of job and internship openings recently posted on sites such as SimplyHired and VentureLoop, as well as the company’s own.

Nanosolar announced in late 2007 that it had begun production at its San Jose solar-cell factory and started shipping its first commercial films to customer Beck Energy; it also said it had begun construction on a larger panel-assembly facility in Luckenwalde, Germany. It appears Nanosolar is staffing up these facilities, as it lists job openings for engineers, machine operators and shift managers in Germany and positions in the U.S., as well as one position in Switzerland for a “Field Engineer — Responsible for managing solar system technical support and product training for Nanosolar customers in Europe and the U.S.”

If these listings are any indication, Nanosolar is busy ramping up production. While Nanosolar announced last year that it had created a new tool that could produce up to 1 gigawatt of solar cells annually, with efficiencies of up to 14.5 percent, the company didn’t disclose its actual production numbers. That led to widespread speculation about how much it actually had — or had not — been shipping. The company previously said its California factory would have the capacity to produce up to 430 megawatts of solar cells –- and was expected reach this capacity by 2008 -– while the German facility was expected to be able to assemble “multi-100″ megawatts of solar panels.

We’ll be watching for more news, and production figures, in September.

Image of Nanosolar’s German plant courtesy of Nanosolar.

Charlie speaks to the founder of LinkedIn, a social network used primarily for business connections and job searching.

“This is possibly going to be the future.”

-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, discussing solar film.

The UA received a STIM$ 15 million grant to develop this new type of film, which researcher Neal Armstrong (uh…) says should have something “off the shelf at Target” by 2020. This actually raises a curious question – what kind of results are academic grants generally tied to? Were Armstrong et al not to succeed in their project, would they be less likely to receive government grants down the road? If there’s any grant-receiving/grant-seeking students or researchers out there, I’d appreciate the input.

Thankfully, this article was able to discuss a stimulus package initiative without salivating over the “jobs created,” but there’s a reason for this that doesn’t involve sudden media skepticism. From the Energy Department’s fact page [PDF] on the Energy Frontier Research Centers (of which this solar film project is a part):

Thirty EFRCs are being funded at a total annual cost of $100 million under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Federal Budget.  The Recovery Act provided a further $277 million, enabling the Office of Science to establish an additional 16 EFRCs and forward-fund them for the full five-year period.

In total, the EFRC initiative represents a planned DOE commitment of $777 million over five years, with the $400 million in out-year funding for the FY 2009 funded Centers subject to future appropriations.

There are over 110 institutions, from 36 states plus the District of Columbia and 8 foreign countries, participating.

In all, they will involve nearly 700 senior investigators and employ, on a full- or part-time basis, an estimated 1100 researchers, including postdoctoral associates, graduate students, undergraduate students, and technical staff.

Roughly a third of these will be supported by Recovery Act funding.

Quick stimulus calculations on the back of an envelope: 367 jobs courtesy of $277 million results in $754,768 per job. Hey, Dr. Armstrong, you still got any openings?

Of course, this funding isn’t just paying for menial labor, or labor at all – not even His Barackness can make everyone near-millionaires overnight. (Well, he could, but Bubblin’ Ben Bernanke has some limits.) Yet it is important to remember that “creation of jobs” in any context isn’t some sort of miracle reminiscent of an antediluvian God – it’s a natural effect of funding projects, be they solar film or highway construction. The question being asked by skeptics is whether this short-term “shock” is actually going to spark a slowing heart (a fact generally assumed by stimulus proponents), whether the unseen costs are great than those seen, and whether it won’t fry the system in the long-run.

It’s also worth noting that the image featured in this post comes courtesy of Metaefficient, discussing a Silicon Valley startup Nanosolar. This company started working on thin solar technology back in 2006 (with the help of federal grants), and shipped its first commercial panels in December 2007.

Back before the stimulus package or the Waxman-Markey bill, when no one was sure whether tax credits for renewable energy would be re-upped or allowed to fade away, U.S. mayors decided to adopt their own climate policy. In signing on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (a pact to strive for the greenhouse gas reductions targeted by the Kyoto Protocol), cities such as Seattle, Boston, and San Francisco sent a “we’ll do it on our own” statement in response to the lack of federal policy.

Since the launch of the agreement in 2005, some 500 more cities have signed on (and counting). And while some cities just signed the document and moved on, others have used the initiative to draft further innovative strategies that deliver meaningful reductions. The most effective strategies, by far, have been those that bring sustainability initiatives into the office of economic development and turn the city into an early adopter of “green” products and services. It’s exactly this sort of strategy that makes the following cities the best in the country to be a cleantech start-up. In a report, Living Cities Foundation interviewed sustainability directors and gathered data from city sustainability departments throughout the country. We’ve landed on the following seven as the best spots to start and grow a cleantech company (more interviews from the report here).

• San Jose
• Boston
• Austin
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Portland
• Denver

First up: San Jose »

Image credit: arimoore.

San Jose

Notable startups: Tesla, SunPower, Nanosolar

Focus: Green car factories and solar manufacturing plants.

Before Portland, Ore., and San Francisco started competing for the most expansive plug-in electric vehicle infrastructure, San Jose was a testing ground for the technology. It’s part of the city’s innovative economic development strategy. “We want to be the R&D arm for the country,” says Collin O’Mara, cleantech policy strategist for the city. In addition to having an entire cleantech strategy team, the city has become a liaison between local community colleges and companies in an effort to help create real “green jobs,” launched a $3 million venture fund to invest in cleantech back in 2007 (the Economic Development Catalyst fund), and helped bring in the country’s second Underwriters Lab testing facility.

It also doesn’t hurt that the city is in close proximity to the big cleantech VCs on Sand Hill Road, as well as a huge pool of talent compliments of neighboring Stanford University and UC Berkeley. So far, that heady combination has wrestled a Tesla plant away from New Mexico and tempted a number of other cleantech companies, including SunPower and Nanosolar. In fact, O’Mara was so successful as the lead strategist for San Jose, he was just snatched up by the state of Delaware. (This week, O’Mara was nominated as the State of Delaware’s Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, so we may be seeing big things coming out of Dover.)

Next up: Boston »

Boston

Notable startups: EnerNOC, Boston Power, 1366 Technologies.

Focus: Early stage solar innovation, history of demand response and more efficient batteries.

A decade ago, no one in Boston wanted to hear about sustainability; it was too “crunchy granola,” said Brian Glascock, director of the office of energy and environment for the city of Boston. That’s until they realized they needed to talk about efficiency, which led to fiscal policy, Glascock said. Now the city boasts a $500 million solar initiative, a $2 million green affordable housing project, and building codes that require green construction. In addition, the city is preparing for the carbon market by looking at a green fund that would aggregate small-scale carbon reduction projects into a larger fund that could participate in the market. Companies such as demand-response darling EnerNoc (s ENOC), lithium-ion battery company Boston-Power (Westborough), and solar materials maker 1366 Technologies (North Lexington) close to Boston, and the city has easy access to talent from both MIT and Harvard.

Next up: Austin »

Image credit: wallyg.

Austin

Notable startups: HelioVolt, Nuventix.

Focus: Where information technology meets greentech, solar manufacturing, efficient lighting.

Just as San Jose has been able to leverage its high-tech past to become cleantech central, Austin is using its experience creating an information technology hub to bring cleantech companies to the Lone Star State. Over the past several years former Mayor Will Wynn worked to make Austin a cleantech incubator, constantly working to bring attention to the issue, like publishing his low electricity bill in the paper. The city’s utility Austin Energy is progressive, working on both renewables, like solar PV and smart grid technology. The city has over two dozen cleantech startups including thin film solar make HelioVolt. In addition, Esther Matthews, director of Austin’s Climate Protection Program, said the city set up its Environmental Business Cluster incubator program to look for “technology that would help us in our effort to become carbon neutral.” Austin is also interested in water conservation and pollution control.

Next up: San Francisco »

Image credit: Stuck in Customs

San Francisco

Notable startups: Over 40 companies, but some of the one’s we’ve covered include smart grid software makerGrid Net, concentrating solar producer GreenVolts, wireless sensor network maker Arch Rock and solar financier Recurrent Energy.

Focus: Where information technology meets green tech, as well as solar companies.

Taking a page from San Jose’s book, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced to the audience at the Green:Net conference in March that the city by the bay would be a test lab for cleantech. Long before that announcement, however, the city’s gigantic (65 full-time staffers with a budget of about $15 million) SF Environment department was hard at work on economic development policies that would help companies offset the high cost of operating in the city.

Solar companies, such as Borrego Solar, have rented offices in San Francisco to take advantage of the preference for local installers in the city’s solar incentive plan. Other cleantech companies, including wireless energy sensor maker Arch Rock, solar concentrator company GreenVolts, solar developer Recurrent Energy, and GE-backed smart-grid startup Grid Net, have made the city their home to take advantage of support for cleantech businesses and its proximity to the same universities and VC firms that make San Jose attractive.

As Newsom campaigns for governor, chances are it’s going to get better and better to be a “green” company in San Francisco, as he told us it would be a major part of his gubernatorial platform. As Jared Blumenfeld, director of SF Environment, put it: “We have no excuses. We have a very educated, environmentally literate, affluent citizenry who elect pretty progressive politicians, and we also have a lot of money as a city government. If you can’t do it here, it’s going to be very hard to do it somewhere else.”

Next up: Seattle »

Image credit: marymactavish

Seattle

Notable startups: Propel Fuels, PowerIt, Helion.

Focus: Biofuels, trash-to-fuel, algae fuel, energy efficiency tech.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels drafted the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Action Agreement and has since gone on to turn his city into an environmental leader. In addition to some of the most aggressive green building codes in the country, Nickels recently announced his intention to build an extensive charging network in the city. Despite the downturn in biofuels, the city boasts some of the best access to biodiesel anywhere in the country, thanks in part to its ties to the agricultural community. It continues to offer support to biofuel companies such as Propel Fuels (in both Sacramento and Seattle).

Proximity to Boeing’s U.S. headquarters also makes Seattle attractive for cleantech companies (for cleantech R&D and algae jet fuel), as does its local socially responsible bank Shorebank Pacific; active and well-funded social development fund ShoreBank Cascadia Enterprise; cleantech-hungry VCs like Cascadia Capital; and regional utility Puget Sound Energy, which is aiming to quickly ramp up its renewable energy purchases and is open to testing out new technologies, including a $50 million trash-to-fuel pilot. Seattle is also tired of losing out on cleantech cred to its West Coast southern neighbors, which makes it willing to do quite a bit to attract cleantech start-ups and retain its current roster of cleantech companies, including energy management solution provider PowerIt and nuclear-energy company Helion.

Next up: Portland »

Image credit: chethan shankar.

Portland

Notable startups: Solaicx, SolarWorld, GreenPrint.

Focus: Solar manufacturing and where information technology meets green.

Besides being every transit planner’s dream come true (the city prioritized compact development and mass transit), Portland has made itself one of the best places to be a “green” business in the country. Its new Bureau of Planning and Sustainability brings together the economic development and planning arms of the city’s sustainability initiatives. (They were previously separate departments, which is not always great for communication and working together.)

In addition to innovative grants that support renewable energy and a big push to be the first EV-ready U.S. city, Portland plans to use stimulus funds to roll out its own Clean Energy Fund this month, which will fund residential energy retrofits. An emphasis on buying and selling local, abundance of natural resources, low taxes and property prices, and access to a sustainably minded talent pool (thanks to Portland State University and the University of Oregon) rounds out the benefits for Portland-based cleantech companies, which currently include solar companies Solaicx and SolarWorld as well as software developer GreenPrint. The next big fish for the city could be Norway-based Think Automotive, which scoped out the area as part of its recent site search.

Next up: Denver »

Image credit: StuSeeger.

Denver

Notable startups: ZettaCore, Conergy, Tendril (Boulder).

Focus: Smart grid, wind, solar.

“We have traditionally been an energy hub,” said Michele Weingarden, director of Greenprint Denver, the city’s sustainability initiative. “First with coal, then natural gas, energy production has often fueled a boom and bust cycle here. Now both the governor and the mayor have made the recruitment of renewable energy companies a priority.” The Green Denver Business program, run out of the city’s Office of Economic Development, is working not only to attract new cleantech companies but to reach out to companies that already exist in the community to make sure they know about available incentives and rebates.

Already in the city there’s nanotech company ZettaCore, and solar company Conergy. The world’s largest wind turbine maker, Vestas, is planning on building a massive factory in Colorado close to Denver, and utility Xcel Energy intends to make nearby Boulder, Colo., the nation’s first fully integrated smart grid city.

Denver also benefits from its proximity to the University of Colorado at Boulder. This week, Denver became the first in the country to become ISO 14001 certified, a milestone that’s in line with its Greenprint plan and its growing reputation as a “green” city after hosting the lowest-impact Democratic National Convention ever.

Image credit: ishrona

This article also appeared on BusinessWeek.com.

This past weekend more than 3,500 attendees flocked Silicon Valley’s Santa Clara convention center to attend the 16th edition of Tiecon, billed as the world’s largest conference for entrepreneurs.

And unlike its peers, Tiecon – which theme focused on the “The Bold Entrepreneur” – has done better this year than last, attracting about 20 percent more people according to the organizers.

The energy at the conference was high and networking opportunities abundant, with more than 150 speakers attending (from entrepreneurs to VCs) in more than 50 sessions.

“This is the year to innovate and start a company. The current macro-economic environment is a unique opportunity for the bold entrepreneur,” said the conference c0-chairs, Shaukat Shamim and Gara Gauba.

For the first time this year, Tiecon organisers honored their top 50 “hottest” emerging startups in 5 segments (Tie50), out of 1,200 nominated and after 50,000 votes!