Many deals and announcements in cleantech investing over the past couple of days:

• VantagePoint Venture Partners announced they have raised a new fund at $1B, and plan to raise $150mm for investments in clean technologies.

• NASA has devoted $75mm to launching Red Planet Capital, which is a non-profit effort to provide venture capital for companies whose technologies are applicable for space travel. Solar PV, fuel cells, batteries, sensors, drinking water and wastewater treatment all come to mind as possibilities, as well as various advanced materials, so Red Planet is now entering the ranks of cleantech investors.

• Solar concentrator startup GreenVolts revealed that they have commitments for $250k toward a seed round. The company, which was a winner in the recent California Clean Tech Open, is currently lining up Series A investors as well.

• PE Week Wire revealed a couple of cleantech financings today, based upon regulatory filings. Wilson TurboPower, a manufacturer of heat exchange systems, has raised $2mm of an up to $3.92mm Series A -- this follows on their announcement (note: pdf) that they $815k by back in May, and now Ignite Technology Ventures is also noted as an investor. Also, PEWW notes that Makani Power LLC has raised a $10mm Series A from Google -- the company is an "alternative energy" startup out of Squid Labs.

• ICP Solar Technologies of Quebec announced a reverse-merger-go-public financing of $5mm from unnamed institutional investors, with $5mm of warrants also issued. The company will now be traded OTC. The company's customers for their thin-film solar products include automakers, notably (solar-powered Winnebagos, e.g.).

Other news and notes: Fun quote re: biofuels: "If we wanted to build a 100 million-gallon plant, we would have venture capitalists calling us up. I'm looking for someone investing a half a million bucks and to see how it goes"... There are now apparently 136 venture-backed, independently-operating nanotech startups around the world... News of an upcoming cleantech conference in Tel Aviv... As someone who's been beating the drum for innovative, technology-based energy efficiency opportunities for a while now, I am very glad to see this news.

• groSolar, an installer and distributor of solar photovoltaic systems based in Vermont, announced a $2.25mm venture round led by SJF Ventures. Calvert Social Investment Fund and Allco Financial Group also participated in the round. The company is a subsidiary of GRO, formerly known as Global Resource Options. The financing is to go toward the company's national expansion plans.

• In the sensors and M2M space, DeepStream Technologies of Wales (UK) announced a ~$15mm Series B led by 3i Group plc. The company's systems are used to integrate sensors and intelligence into energy, medical and electrical appliances and equipment -- for smart building and energy management applications, for example. Existing investor Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures also participated in the round.
  

• Cleantech investors speaking out:
  

Vinod Khosla in BusinessWeek -- "We are looking more for the big breakthroughs... than the small ones in batteries."

John Doerr in Red Herring -- "'Clean tech,' as many past efforts at environmentally friendly industry have been called, hasn’t panned out from an investment standpoint, said Mr. Doerr, but 'greentech' will."

Kirk Washington at the "Investing in Clean Energy" conference -- "The elephant in the room is that a bubble gets blown up that could burst."

Peter Grubstein in SocalTech.com -- "There are more companies able to get their prototypes into customer's hands much faster, there is demand being supplied by renewable portfolio standards from states like California, and consumer awareness and corporate awareness for the first time."

Christine Bergeron, interviewed by Cleantech Blog -- "Investors believe that above average returns can now be made in this sector."

Other items to note: A good overview of silicon and CIGS PV technologies... More cautionary words about hydrogen-fueled transportation technology... Finally, Chevron and NREL are teaming up on cellulosic biofuels.