Comments on: Small is beautiful for green-tech newbies

Even amid the economic gloom, smaller clean-tech start-ups in efficiency and renewable energy are being funded because demand for their products remains strong.

[iamarcin]

I like wal-mart. Glad things are going well for you playing it safe.
If there is a way to make these products expandable so that someone with $200 $500 $1000 can get started with panel they pick up at a wal-mart and install in a few hours... and then add to the system in same increments whenever he can it would definitely jump start this market.
I would buy 5 Christmas gifts of that $200 product every year till those people's energy bills were $0. And invest in my own for sure at more money. I cant spent $10K-40K right off the bat.
With the electric car coming should help this market see some more buyers. Just think about how life would be like if you did not have to spend any more for heating or electricity or transportation fuel. All that would be left is food, clothing, taxes, home, initial car investment rest is luxuries. Businesses(my local wal-mart keeps their lights on 24/7) would have lower operating costs so lower prices.

[sanenazok]

Show me a $200 solar panel that isn't useless...or even "a few" that do something other than generate good feelings.

[Penguinisto]

Solar PV (Photovoltaics) does cost quite a bit to install... about as much as a new set of windows, or a new heating/cooling system. You would pay for it like you would those other items I mentioned - usually w/ a home equity loan, or by other large means.

While most places in the US make it worthwhile, some (e.g. Seattle) do not... but it works just fine in most regions of the US.

That said, and unlike the windows or new furnace/aircon unit, it is at least one setup that starts paying itself off as soon as the switch is thrown, and keeps doing so every time the sun is out. The payments start when you get massive tax credits just for having a setup installed. Second, when you're out of the house and not using electricity that much, any extra power you generate gets pumped into the local electrical grid, where the power company has to literally pay you for it - and at the same rates they charge residential customers, during the times they use it (which is usually during peak hours).

Even if you use all that power and demand more, your power bill savings are still literal, not figurative.

The things are good for 20-30 years at full conversion rating, which is long enough to pay for itself multiple times over.

hi

[uohaa]

Green Tech is good for every one!

[razartech]

I agree completely about Martin's comment about those companies that need late stage funding or say, a second round to keep things afloat for a while. I own my own green tech software business and consult on the side for a water and wastewater treatement company and the treatment company is in that spot. They have a tremendous solution that turns waste into fertilizer faster than anyone else and make it odor-free. However, if they don't get a second round of funding they could run out of dough. That would be horrible for a company with a proven technology and business model - but it is a sign of the times. I dont think that will happen for them but I will say this:

If they do make it through this awful economy, I think they could be one of the greenest and most innovative companies on the planet. We'll wait and see. Potential investors in any business, no matter how green or innovative, are watching their pennies closer than ever.