Bill Watkins sees the light on LEDs
Bill Watkins, the former Seagate Technology chief executive, has chosen the lighting industry for his return to the CEO’s role.
Mr Watkins will lead Silicon Valley startup Bridgelux, which is driving down the cost and increasing the luminescence of LEDs with its technology.
“It’s the best thing I’ve come across in decades, this is how we felt about storage back in 1980, this is a $100bn market for general lighting,” he told me.
Silicon Valley solar pioneer considers a sale
One of Silicon Valley’s most ambitious “green” start-ups looks like it’s about to join the consolidation that’s sweeping through the solar industry.
Ausra, which was backed by more than $90m in equity from blue-blooded venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures, is in talks with three potential acquirers, according to a person familiar with the situation. Possibilities range from a full buy-out of the firm to a majority investment, this person says.
Originally from Australia (hence the name), Ausra’s founders were lured to California two years ago by the flood of VC money that was pouring into solar at the time. Their company is founded on concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology, which uses mirrors to focus the sun’s rays in order to heat water and drive a turbine.
Saving greentech
For a symbol of the new, diminished expectations of the once swaggering US “greentech” industry, look no further than Ausra.
With blue-chip backers like Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, Ausra was one of those Silicon Valley companies that thought on a grand scale. Using a variety of techniques that included low-cost ways of producing and installing vast arrays of mirrors, it dreamt of building and operating utility-scale solar thermal power plants.
As we reported early on in the financial crisis (and the company went on to confirm earlier this year), Ausra changed course and decided its future lay in selling its technology to established utilities rather than becoming a power producer itself. As the project finance markets seized up, only a company with the balance sheet of a utility could hope to fund such ambitious projects, though Ausra said its decision reflected over strategic priorities as well.
Intel wants smarter stimulus tools
Intel, the world’s biggest chip maker, is warning that companies taking advantage of government stimulus packages to build future infrastructure and transportation projects are relying on tools of the past that waste energy and cost more.
Speaking at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, Sean Maloney, Intel executive vice president, urged the adoption of 3D simulation software to improve design and implementation.
Solar and biofuel projects score early 09 investments
In what promises to be a dismal year for cleantech investment, there are two early bright spots.
Today SolFocus, a Silicon Valley company developing concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology, announced that it has raised $47m in series C financing. And earlier this week ZeaChem, a Colorado startup aiming to produce cellulosic ethanol, announced it raised $34m in series B financing.
| About this blog | Blog guide |
