The PV inverter market, once short of innovation, has seen a surge of investment in the last few years. Spurred by startup advances, established firms like SMA, Satcon, and National Semiconductor are developing new distributed PV electronics technologies in-house or through acquisition. This Special Report from Greentech Media, sponsored by Enphase Energy, takes a look at the state of innovation in the inverter market, VC investment activity, and the emerging leaders in the $2.4 billion PV inverter market.
Download now »As the price of PV falls, the technology will become more competitively priced in Europe and the U.S. before its prices are competitive in China.
The solar firm was founded in 2006 with A round funding from Kleiner Perkins and claims its process could increase the efficiency of conventional amorphous silicon PV by up to 150 percent.
The power plant developer plans to sell solar electricity to PG&E and possibly utilities in other western states. PV is more cost effective than solar thermal in the near future, says one NextLight exec.
SunPower is seeking to cut costs and serve the North American market via a deal with Jabil. The deal is good for Jabil, too, which has had to layoff employees and close operations around the world.
The Indian government could expand its small solar subsidy program announced last year, prompting domestic solar companies to gear up for what they believe would be a lucrative local market.
Last week's Intersolar conference in Germany was affected by the self-delusion of the solar industry, says the Prometheus Institute's Travis Bradford.
Executives from Safeway and Whole Foods Market project and technology developers need to figure out how to make a strong business case for installing solar. And don't ask dumb questions.
The United States could become the leading solar market one day, but it's likely to be Germany that saves the day for solar panel makers who have seen demand plummeted so far this year, analysts say.
The thin-film solar panel maker almost shut its doors and begged for government contracts before hitting the big time, a former NREL manager recalled. Meanwhile, it could be in hot water over its purchase of OptiSolar's project pipelines.
A solar industry consultant said amorphous silicon panel makers are bound to have tougher times grabbing market share when production costs and selling prices for panels from competing technologies are falling quickly.
Sometimes natural gas can use some solar help, and solar needs gas. Will the hybrid plant be the wave of the future?
On the surface, Intersolar 2009 was business as usual, but if you looked hard enough, you could see the cracks beneath the surface, says Senior Analyst Shyam Mehta.
Eight months after Spain changed it feed-in tariff program and dramatically shrunk its market, it has come to exemplify what not to do when crafting policies aimed at boosting solar production and business in the U.S.
A land developer in Arizona has some desert property for you? Don't laugh – it might work.
Solar companies gathered in Munich this week to launch new products and announce breakthroughs. Companies developing devices for monitoring and boosting solar panel performances are making noise.
A report by Greenpeace and two solar thermal industry groups say yes, but major hurdles – money and policies – stand in the way of it becoming a reality.
Would you believe 200 solar startups? What about 217? Senior Analyst Eric Wesoff's update to our 150 Solar Startups list sees the field expanding quickly.
The defense contractor and energy investor will build the plant and sell the power to utility Arizona Pubic Service Co. It's the first large-scale solar project for Lockheed, but far from the biggest contract for solar-thermal power plants now being built the American Southwest.
The Chinese solar panel maker and project developer has submitted 179 megawatts of applications and expects to be one of the first subsidy recipients.
The Massachusetts company just raised $3.2 million to expand its business of developing wirelessly enabled, solar-powered trash bins for cities, parks, zoos and schools.
The stimulus is great, but it’s not perfect. It shortchanges efficiency to some degree. Where do you think it falls short?
The Austin company wants to work with solar panel makers to integrate its microinverters into panels, an approach that is gaining a wider acceptance in the residential market.