News, Trends & Analysis
Archive for April, 2010
Adam Capital (Clean Energy Asset Finance), Solar Solutions Close $500k Renewable Energy Loan Agreement
Apr 30th
April 29, 2010
Adam Capital offers collateralized loans between $250,000 and $3 million to commercial scale renewable energy developers of Solar, solar Thermal, Wind, Waste to Energy, and Biofules. SONOMA, Calif.,
Adam Capital Clean Energy Asset Finance, the leading collateral-based lender serving distributive commercial renewable energy developers, today announced the closing of a $500,000 loan with Arizona-based Solar Solutions. Solar Solutions plans to use the loan to install approximately 100 kW of residential solar systems in the Phoenix area.
“The agreement with Solar Solutions is a prime example of Adam Capital’s unique lending model of securing a renewable energy loan primarily by More >
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Loading ...Obama Administration announces nearly $100MM for smart grid workforce training
Apr 29th
April 29, 2010
Source: US Department of Energy
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that the Department of Energy is announcing award selections for nearly $100 million for 54 smart grid workforce training programs intended to help prepare the next generation of workers in the utility and electrical manufacturing industries. These projects will leverage more than $95 million in funding from community colleges, universities, utilities and manufacturers to develop and implement training programs. The selectees estimate that the programs will train approximately 30,000 Americans.
Secretary Chu made the announcement while visiting a Pepco engineering and service center in Rockville, Maryland that is More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Smart grid demonstration center opens in China
Apr 29th
April 19, 2010
Source: GE
High-ranking government, utility and technology executives were on hand as GE (GE) and the city of Yangzhou, China announced the grand opening of Yangzhou’s Smart Grid Demonstration Center.
The center is intended to comply with 2009’s U.S.-China Clean Energy Announcements, calling for far reaching cooperation between the two countries to promote clean energy. The demonstration center includes an array of GE products that affect energy in homes, on power lines and in a utility’s network control center. It also demonstrates communications infrastructure that can enable citywide solutions beyond energy, such as voice and data applications.
Grid infrastructure and control technologies in the demonstration included automated More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Smart Meters Help Stabilize the Grid, Siemens AMIS
Apr 29th
Wolfgang Bauer, Siemens AG
In the telecommunications business most telephone calling and Internet surfing is done at fixed prices; the trend favors flat rates. But, there’s no flat rate for electricity, where, to an increasing extent, the ground rule is “use more, pay more.” That rule is likely to be applied even more stringently in the future.
With time-of-use pricing, which is opposite of flat rate pricing, if a customer uses his or her washer and dryer during peak demand periods, that customer will pay a hefty surcharge. But, if the customer does his or her laundry at night when demand is More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Web Conference from AltaTerra Research
Apr 28th
April 28, 2010
Web conference, “PACE Funding: Energy Market Breakthrough?” to be held Wednesday, May 19th.
“Despite the rapid increase in PACE programs, there are still a number of questions surrounding PACE programs,” said Jon Guice, Managing Director of Research at AltaTerra Research. “For example, mortgaging agencies, such as Fannie and Freddie Mac, have raised concerns and solar companies have questioned stipulations in PACE programs that require energy consumption reductions before solar power systems can be financed.”Palo Alto, California, April 28, 2010 – Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing has the potential to transform the energy efficiency and distributed solar energy More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Smart Grid News: An Inside Look at Austin’s Pecan Street Project (@PecanStProject, @JimMarston))
Apr 28th
Apr 13, 2010
By Jim Marston and Gregory Burkart
Two years ago, an all-volunteer collaboration of technology companies, university talent and political progressives in Austin, Texas, set out to prove the viability of the emerging Smart Grid. The Pecan Street Project, named after one of the town’s more eclectic streets, incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2009, and it has already become an exemplary case study for the structure and financing of alternative energy projects.
Shortly after the group’s incarnation, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the Pecan Street Project $10.4 million to demonstrate Smart Grid technologies in a real-world setting. Combining the federal award with $14.5 million More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Smart Grid Technologies of Tomorrow: House Panel Tackles ‘America Competes Act’ Reauthorization
Apr 28th
Apr 27, 2010
The House Science and Technology Committee should begin work this week on a multi-year reauthorization and increase in financial support for the 2007 America Competes Act. The original act provided for doubling funding for research and development programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and for science, technology engineering and math education (STEM) programs. This reauthorization, HR 5116, also would give small to mid-size manufacturers access to federal technology loan guarantees and improve STEM program coordination. GridWise Alliance President Katherine Hamilton said, “This bill will help foster Smart Grid technologies that are More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...US (DOE), UAE (Masdar) sign MoU to promote collaboration on sustainable, clean energy technologies
Apr 28th
April 27, 2010 Source: US Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multifaceted renewable energy initiative, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote collaboration on clean and sustainable energy technologies.
The agreement, signed at DOE by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman and Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, builds on the historically strong ties between the United States and the United Arab Emirates to establish a framework for cooperation in three key areas – carbon capture and sequestration, water and bio-fuels, and building technology. The agreement opens the door for scientific and More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...SolarBridge gets $15 million venture investment (#Austin #PV #MicroInverter)
Apr 26th
SolarBridge gets $15 million venture investment
Austin-based SolarBridge Technologies has raised $15 million to build out operations for its first product launch.
Rho Ventures and Battery Ventures made the investment. SolarBridge has raised a total of $27 million.
SolarBridge develops technology to make solar panels more efficient. It is one of about two dozen companies that has received money from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The fund invested $1.5 million in the company in March.
Founded in 2004 using technology licensed from the University of Illinois, SolarBridge plans to launch its first product by the end of More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Inside Renewable Energy (podcast) Wind Technologies: Size Matters, But Only So Much
Apr 21st
RSS feeds Inside Renewable Energy Wind Technologies: Size Matters, But Only So Much
The wind turbine – standing tall, sleek and uniquely modern – is arguably the most powerful symbol of the technological advancement of renewables. And although size is typically the metric for such progress, it’s the less visible improvements that have allowed the industry to grow. Wind technologies have come a long way over the last 30 years, starting as custom-made amalgamations of farm machinery in Denmark and lab experiments in the U.S., and evolving to become the giant sentries of today’s energy transition. In this podcast, we’ll look at More >
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