groSolar, DeepStream announce raises

• 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.