Green Tech

Rather than try to reinvent the solar cell, startup Thermata has engineered a high-tech mirror to cut the cost of solar power.

The company, incubated at Idealabs, has completed initial testing on a system executives say can cut the cost of sun-tracking mirrors, or heliostats, in half using cameras and other digital technologies. Thermata plans to start beta testing the heliostats this year with potential customers, which are concentrating solar power technology companies, and with Sandia National Laboratories.

Thermata typifies a new breed of green-technology startup which is targeting a specific niche in energy using technologies from other fields. Its … Read more

The gadgets in your smart home now come with software updates.

Nest Labs today released the equivalent of version 2.0 software for its smart thermostat on the Web, iOS or Android. The software tweaks for the $249 Learning Thermostat are designed to help people better understand how thermostat changes affect energy usage.

The update presents energy history data over 10 days, a longer period than before and indicates when heating and cooling systems turned on. It can also show what caused setting changes -- the weather, a manual adjustment, or an auto-away setting.

A new air conditioning feature, called … Read more

Cree is leaning on high design to get LED lighting onto lamp posts.

The company today introduced new lines of streetlights that use long-lasting and energy-efficient LEDs, including AeroBlades lamps which are an array of LED light sources in blade-like strips.

Cree also updated its traditional LED streetlights for overhead lighting and developed a lamp with traditional bulb designed to fit into historic districts.

The products are the first since Cree, which makes LED light sources, purchased Ruud Lighting to expand its lighting fixture business. LEDs are a good fit for street lights in that they last longer than other … Read more

The unveiling of Fisker Automotive's Atlantic model last night proves once again the EV maker can design beautiful cars. But the company's far away from demonstrating it's a healthy business.

The Atlantic extended-range electric vehicle is a luxury, four-door sedan expected to cost about $50,000. Like the sportier and more expensive Fisker Karma, it has bold styling and the high-tech touches of cars in its class. It's also electric, driven by motors and a gas engine that kicks in to keep batteries charged for longer rides.

As a lower-priced car than the $108,000 Karma, … Read more

Social media has officially come to energy efficiency.

Opower today announced the availability of a Facebook application that lets people track electricity use and communicate with friends around home energy. People can set up different groups of friends and compare themselves to similar homes or the most efficient homes.

Sixteen utilities in the U.S. (see list here) are participating in a program which feeds utility bill information directly into Facebook, allowing a person to see total kilowatt-hour usage. Others will need to manually input monthly energy data to compare to regional average and participating friends.

The information sharing is … Read more

Photos of Fisker Automotive's Atlantic luxury plug-in electric are online a day before the company officially unveils the car in New York.

Called Project Nina, the four-door sedan is expected to have the same powertrain as the Fisker Karma (and Chevy Volt) -- the car is driven by an electric motor and a gas engine kicks in to maintain sufficient charge on longer rides.

Fisker is hosting a "reveal" event for the Atlantic tomorrow night in New York, where there will certainly be questions about the company's future.

The company suffered delays in bringing out the … Read more

Startup Altaeros Energy is going up for more energy.

The company yesterday said it has successfully tested a prototype of its airborne wind turbine, which is a traditional small wind turbine enclosed in an inflatable shell. The Boston-based company is seeking to partner with others to build and test a commercial-scale turbine.

Altaeros Energy is one of a few companies developing systems to capture the stronger and steadier winds at high altitudes. Others include Makani Power, Joby Energy, and Windlift.

For its prototype test in Maine, Altaeros Energy placed a Southwest Skystream turbine, which is normally placed on a pole, … Read more

It's a flying wing, a power generator, and a robot.

Startup Makani Power is developing a wind turbine that's a big break from convention. If it works, it could slash the cost of wind power, particularly offshore.

The company has nearly finished testing flights for a 30-kilowatt prototype turbine and will soon begin work on a larger, commercial-scale system, according to CEO Corwin Hardham. The goal is to complete development and testing that full-scale, 600-kilowatt system by 2016, he said.

Makani Power, which was originally funded by Google and later by the Department of Energy's ARPA-E agency, … Read more

SolarCity has rapidly grown to be one of the largest solar installers. Now it's applying its financing model to energy efficiency.

The company today announced the availability of energy-efficiency loans that homeowners can use to finance home upgrades and defray upfront costs.

SolarCity's main business is solar, installing photovoltaic panels and offering homeowners leases under which they pay a monthly charge rather than actually purchase the panels. Two years ago, it bought privately held Building Solutions to expand into services and get access to that company's software.

SolarCity has started offering home efficiency assessments to its solar … Read more