ZigBee is going to take off, thanks to smart metering, according to research firm InStat. Shipments of chips based around the 802.15.4 standard will rise to 292 million units in 2012, way up from the seven million sold in 2007. (ZigBee is based around 802.15.4) About one-third of the chips on the 802.15.4 protocol will be based around d a ZigBee stack, but that's still nearly 100 million chips sold. A leading driver of demand for these chips will be smart meters and sensors for home networks. With these home networks, electric meters will be able to turn down air conditioners or turn off the heater in dryers to save power. Some of the companies promoting ZigBee include...

A possible change in federal incentives for solar power projects could soon extend to all renewable energy producers, if draft language in the $825 billion stimulus bill working its way through Congress can make it into law. Already, the massive and ever-changing bill may help the solar power industry with one of its key goals — getting investment tax credits that aren't of much use today shifted to direct payments from the federal government (see Tax Credit Fix for Solar in the Works). But another section of the draft stimulus bill would allow wind power producers and other renewable energy projects that now receive production tax credits — a 1.9-cent per kilowatt-hour...

Wind turbine blade maker TPI Composites has landed $20 million in a second round of funding — and one of the leading investors, GE, is also a customer.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company announced the funding Thursday at the Cleantech Investor Summit in Palm Springs. Investors included GE Equity and GE Energy Financial Services, Landmark Growth Capital Partners, NGP Energy Technology Partners and Angeleno Group. TPI, which started out as a fiberglass boat maker but now makes composite materials for wind power, military and transportation markets, raised $22 million in 2007.

TPI sells its wind turbine blades to GE Energy as well as to Mitsubishi Power Systems, meaning that GE...