Cleantech Investing: Four Years Old

Happened to notice that Sunday will be the fourth anniversary of my first Cleantech Investing post.  Going back through the archives really helps bring home what a wild ride it has been over the past 48 months in this sector.  And the fun continues…

Many, many thanks to those of you who have made this site such a fun and interactive experience.  Keep those comments and questions and gripes coming!  I hope I can continue to make this column a useful resource for you (and the few thousand of our closest friends who regularly stop by).  And if you are a web2.0 type, check out the Twitter feed and the Facebook page for readers, so you can network with your fellow C.I. subscribers…

In this era of “capital efficiency” and “energy efficiency is the next big thing” and “smart grid”, it’s fun to look back at some of what I and others have said on this over the past few years.  In particular, this three part series (column one, column two, and column three) on the smart grid kind of made me both smile and cringe when I stumbled upon it today.

And of course, there are deals to report:

• PE Hub yesterday reported two solar financings that sound like they’re of the convertible notes + warrants variety:  Optisolar raised $30mm, and Heliovolt has raised $17.5mm of a planned $32mm round.

• Thin film developer Sencera has taken in a $15.6mm investment from Quercus Trust.

• VentureWire reported that Silver Spring Networks has added $15mm to its Series D.  The additional capital apparently came in at a 20% premium on their first close back in October.

Other news and notes:  Here’s one take on the SBIR reauthorization debate…  CFR has a good overview of the clean coal debate...  Google’s Dan Reicher says energy efficiency could be the next big thing...  And finally, I’ll extend the same generous offer to Fisker that I made (unsuccessfully) to Tesla—simply give me one of your cars for a two-week test drive, and I promise a GLOWING review on this website!