GreenBeat

Solar costs set to plummet 50% by year’s end

The cost of solar equipment has been falling over the past several months, but now it looks like cost of solar-generated electricity will drop about 50 percent from where it was at the end of 2008, according to a new report from research firm New Energy Finance.

The firm’s prediction is based on two observations: First, that prices for solar modules, panels and components have been getting lower and lower; and second, that as the economy… Continue Reading

EVs surge as Nissan taps China’s market, U.S. gov. lobbied for green car subsidies

In addition to Tesla Motors‘ potential IPO, there’s two more big pieces of news coming out of the electric vehicle world. Nissan is opening talks about electric cars in China, and the Electrification Coalition has started lobbying for tax credits and loan guarantees to get battery-powered cars on the roads soon.

Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn seems to have switched course. His line used to be that he wouldn’t be selling EVs in China until the country… Continue Reading

IPO talk revs up for Tesla Motors

Rumors are swirling today that Tesla Motors is seriously considering an initial public offering sometime soon. The talk has been tracked to two anonymous sources, who say the six-year-old company could cash in big on the battery-powered car trend before electric and hybrid models from companies like General Motors, Mitsubishi and Nissan make it to market.

Tesla has officially denied the prediction, calling the IPO chatter “rumor and speculation.” That said, going public in 2010 would… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Big thank you and media roundup

Thanks to everyone who made it out to GreenBeat 2009 yesterday and Wednesday!

We were thrilled with the turnout, and couldn’t be more grateful for all the support we received from attendees, speakers, sponsors and the press. It’s clear that the Smart Grid has gained the momentum it needs for serious work to be done, and we are excited to play a big role in this conversation going forward.

With Al Gore, and several of the biggest… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Al Gore says Smart Grid part of ‘the single largest solution’ to climate change

Nobel Prize winner and former vice president Al Gore gave a wide-ranging, passionate talk at VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 2009 conference yesterday in San Mateo about combating global warming. We already liveblogged Gore’s talk, but for folks who don’t want to read the blow-by-blow description, here’s a summary.

Perhaps the most significant point: That energy efficiency is “the single largest solution to the climate crisis,” and the Smart Grid will “play a crucial role” in achieving that efficiency.

The… Continue Reading

Battery company R2EV and Fuel 2.0: Changing the electric vehicle paradigm?

If you’ve followed coverage on R2EV, you already know that some are skeptical about the company’s battery, designed to be swapped out in a network of “Greenbox” facilities nation wide.

Perceived problems with interoperability, improper installation or short circuiting and decreasing life cycle of a fleet of batteries have all been cited as reasons to stick with a more conventional battery pack. Talking to chief executive Alex Livingston, though, one gets the impression he’s already thought… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Live-blogging Nobel Prize winner Al Gore

Straight from VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 2009 event, we bring you former vice president and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore. I’ll be live-blogging this session — so it won’t be perfect or word-for-word, but it will be fast! We’ll pull out the gems as soon as we can.

Laura Ipsen, Cisco Systems’ smart grid guru is introducing Al Gore right now, highlighting his many achievements and awards. He’s been a mentor for Cisco in linking climate change to… Continue Reading

Politics and policy needed for the smart grid. Soon.

At GreenBeat 2009’s Politics and Policy session, the prevalent theme was the need for a simple, efficient legislation and regulation package for the U.S. power system.

Robert Gee of Gee Strategies went so far as to say, “Before anything is passed into law we need to get it past a panel of sixth graders, see if they can understand it. That is how simple we need to be going here.”

Unfortunately, Rick Counihan of Enernoc thinks the… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Cisco has a blank check for Smart Grid, but what will it do with it?

Cisco Systems put no limit on its budget for Smart Grid development,  the company’s grid guru Laura Ipsen told the audience at GreenBeat 2009 — albeit quoting her boss John Chambers.

The question now is what Cisco (a GreenBeat 2009 sponsor) will use that money for — currently, it looks like the company is racing to get in on every nook and cranny of the Smart Grid business, from hardware to IP networks to cybersecurity measures…. Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Steve Westly spreads the Smart Grid gospel, says innovation should fly fast and loose

Steve Westly, former California state controller and now founder of the venture firm Westly Group, says he got interested in the Smart Grid and cleantech in order to save the world and make massive amounts of money in the process.

During a talk designed to counter Vinod Khosla’s Smart Grid skepticism in the session previous at GreenBeat 2009, he recalled putting solar panels up on president Jimmy Carter’s White House, and his heartbreak when president Ronald… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Khosla warns against Smart Grid hype, pushes storage

“I’m not skeptical that the Smart Grid should exist,” famed Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla said, kicking off his conversation with VentureBeat editor Matt Marshall at VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 09 event today. “I wouldn’t be here if I was.” Khosla has been unofficially dubbed a Smart Grid skeptic because his venture firm, Khosla Ventures, has yet to make a significant investment in the space. He says he has been avidly scouting for a Smart Grid startup… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Locust, CPower tie for grand prize in Innovation Competition

The winners of the inaugural GreenBeat Innovation Competition — a survey of the most promising technologies and companies working toward a cleaner, more efficient grid — were just announced following four-minute presentations from the top eleven finalists (”eleven is the new ten”). Locust Storage, while launched its innovative storage system today, and demand response provider CPower declared victory, winning a slot at the DEMO Spring conference in 2010.

The winner were selected by a panel of… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Where will the VC money flow on the Smart Grid?

Venture capitalists and investment bankers are fascinated by the potential of making money from Smart Grid investments and initial public offerings in the coming year, judging from the latest panel at VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 09 event today.

In spite of a difficult IPO market and the recession’s drag on the industry, Smart Grid companies are starting to get attention from both VCs and acquisitive technology giants, according to the speakers on the Follow the Money panel, moderated… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: At the international level, Smart Grid is about engagement (and standards)

During GreenBeat 2009’s International breakout panel, examining Smart Grid development on the global level, the prevalent theme was consumer engagement: in a regulated environment, like the U.K., how do you engage the consumer? How do you get them to change their behavior?

According to Ray Bell of WiMax for Smart Grid company Grid Net, it’s really about service. Cleaner energy, he claims, will become a marketable service because, even though it costs more, people will feel… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: New startup Locust could crush traditional data storage

Emerging from stealth mode today at GreenBeat 2009, Locust Storage, has developed 90 to 95 percent efficiency in data center energy consumption. CEO Seth Georgion, hailing from the oil and gas industry, says that, like so many game changing ideas, this one was drafted on a cocktail napkin. That was eight months ago.

As a data center manager for an oil and gas concern, Georgion was working in a field where a single survey could contain… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Google’s Ed Lu declares PowerMeter a humanitarian mission

Google’s Ed Lu said today that his company’s entry into the energy network market doesn’t mean that utilities have to worry about the search giant generating or distributing electrical power.

Lu spoke at VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 09 event today. Discussing Google’s Powermeter with Matt Marshall, Venture Beat Editor In Chief and CEO, he seemed to be playing his cards close to his vest on some topics but was smilingly helpful on others.

Marshall comments that PG&E might be… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Utilities eye their own ‘iTunes App Stores’ for Smart Grid apps

“Every utility will have its own version of the iTunes App Store,” said Austin Energy, CIO of Austin Energy, during this morning’s utility panel at GreenBeat 2009 in San Mateo, Calif. — essentially, every major utility, in order to be at the cutting edge of the Smart Grid, will need to have a full portfolio of applications that can help their customers trim their energy use and their monthly bills. This has become vitally important,… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Brace yourselves, electricity prices will rise over next 10-30 years, Duke CEO Jim Rogers says

“In the last 50 years, electricity prices have been flat — in the next 10 to 30, the price of electricity is going to rise,” said Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers in conversation with Matter Network’s John Gartner at GreenBeat 2009 this evening. “This is going to lead to a lot of frustration from consumers and political reactions,” he continues. The key, he says, is how utilities, their customers and governments respond to this increase.

Duke,… Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Save energy (and money!) — leave consumers out of it, energy management companies say

The most obvious answer to how to get consumers to embrace the Smart Grid is “money,” said the startup and demand response company leaders on GreenBeat 2009’s Consumers and Efficiency panel. The invisible hand of economics hath built the empire of Wal-Mart, could it not also raise up smarter utilities?

According to Gary Fromer, CEO of demand response firm CPower, the key is to give incentives. Claiming that big box stores like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and… Continue Reading