Here in Boulder, Colorado the mood is impatient when it comes to the future of energy in the United States. The pace at the national level is not quick enough to deliver the clean-energy future that many Coloradans view as crucial to the future viability of our economy and environment. As a result, the (more…)

The energy efficiency sector has had a healthy injection of venture capital over the past 18 months. In Q2, investment in energy efficiency accounted for almost a quarter of cleantech venture capital commitments (Cleantech Group).

It is an increasingly appealing sector for VCs in the (more…)

No doubt, a few eyebrows were raised when Gamesa, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of utility-scale wind turbines, recently invested in a company that builds micro-solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and mobile microgrids that are being deployed in Afghanistan by the U.S. military. This is rightly so, since it shows that (more…)

In the venture capital community, one hears a great deal about “technology risk.” In my most recent meeting with Ray Lane, Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins a few months ago, he told me: “We want all technology risk removed before we put more than a few million dollars into a deal.” (more…)

In an important development on the intellectual property front, but with particular import for Israeli clean tech companies targeting the U.S. market for strategic partnerships and licensing, the Israel Patent Office (ILPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced a Patent (more…)

Earlier this month, Tendril Networks and Siemens Energy, Inc. announced a strategic alliance to market the Tendril Connect platform to utilities. Tendril Connect, the core of Tendril’s home energy management offering, is one of the most comprehensive home energy management solutions (more…)

Business law (also known as commercial law) is very important within the clean technologies industry. Law firms help address numerous issues relevant to clean technology and renewable energy companies, including issues related to venture capital, debt financing (venture debt, project finance, and bank (more…)

Primus Power is a Hayward, California, startup that makes flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage. A flow battery is a type of rechargeable battery that works by the flow of electrolytes through an electrochemical cell, which converts the chemical energy to electricity. (more…)

In a report issued by Clean Edge, Inc. on March 14th, combined revenue for solar, and wind power, along with biofuels, increased 35.2 percent over the last year, leaping from $139.1 billion to 188.1 billion. And in the ten years since the market research firm specializing in the clean tech sector has been releasing annual industry reports, solar power alone has exceeded (more…)

If you’re an entrepreneur who would like to present your business plan to a set of potential investors, let me make a suggestion. Look into the California Coast Venture Forum (CCVF), a non-profit whose mission is to advise and promote growing companies in markets in California. I’ve had a series of meetings with these folks, and here’s a group that gets it. Their tagline? (more…)