-
1. Hyperion Signs First Customer for Nuclear Pods
-
2. RoofRay Launches Online Solar Clearinghouse
-
3. Eka Scores Smart Meter Partner Landis+Gyr
-
4. The Daily Sprout
Hyperion Signs First Customer for Nuclear Pods
Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups
We’re not familiar with TES’s investments, but the company has supposedly signed a “Letter of Intent” to purchase six Hyperion nuclear modules, which each cost roughly $25 million. Hyperion says the initial purchase could lead the way to a larger purchase of 50 nuclear devices — so that would be a massive purchase of $1.25 billion. The devices won’t be ready until 2013, so everyone has plenty of time to hash out all the inevitable regulatory and safety issues. (Anyone with more info on TES, let us know).
We had a lengthy phone conversation last week with Hyperion CEO John “Grizz” Deal, who said “this is not science fiction.” Deal defended his product and said the devices are very safe and will meet the important needs of developing nations that don’t have connections to a central electric grid. Deal said the nuclear devices are safer than traditional nuclear reactors because they don’t have moving parts and are more like a “nuclear battery.” The device also produces waste, “the size of a softball,” after five to seven years of use, Deal says.
The advantages of the modules are that it is cheaper, easier to deploy, quicker to get built and can reach remote areas where traditional reactors can’t be built. And this tech isn’t just nuclear pie in the sky: Other companies, like Toshiba, are also working on this type of technology, and Hyperion is backed by Altira Group, which has invested in GridPoint and Southwest Wind Power.
Though, Deal readily admits there are hurdles, from public perception to logistics, ahead for the technology: “This is idealistic, we’re the first to admit that.”
RoofRay Launches Online Solar Clearinghouse
Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups
The biggest complaint we hear from homeowners who are considering rooftop solar systems is the lack of information: How much will it cost; how long until it pays off; who’s the best local installer? A new site that launched this morning, is looking to help answer all of those queries using satellite data and a hands-on web site — RoofRay.com.
The creator of RoofRay, former dotcom entrepreneur Chris Bura, says his site is like Zillow meets Lending Tree for residential solar. Basically it’s a solar clearinghouse that uses Google satellite data and info from the National Renewable Energy Labs to help users make good decisions about what sort of system to buy.
Here’s how it works: enter an address, pull up the satellite image of the chosen building’s rooftop and then using the RoofRay tool based on Google maps, draw your solar arrays (see image below and YouTube video below the jump). Data on square footage of the system, slope of the roof, power per square foot and total peak power all show up in a chart, and the info displayed depends on how big you’ve drawn your system.
After drawing the panels you can dive into metrics based on the size and location of your solar system, including projected performance, financial analysis, average monthly utility bill after solar is added, total cost summary and, our favorite, time until the system pays for itself. When Bura walked us through the site, we made our roof top solar system quite massive and discovered it would be a good decade until it would break even.
Overall the system gives users as much detailed info as they’d ever want about a system. (Solar geeks, you’ll be in heaven.) Though, all that information could also be a drawback; a simpler option for users that don’t want to spend so much hands-on drawing time could make it a lot more user-friendly. We’re also not sure how close the projections are to how the solar system will actually work in real life, but users with existing solar systems, test it out and let us know.
The biggest potential of the site for the user could be the ability to test out how good a home’s solar potential is before buying it. (That’s where the Zillow comparison really comes into play.) There’s also a search function to be able to find solar systems on buildings in your area, so you can see which installers your neighbors have been signing up with.
Bura spent under $50,000 over the last 6 months building out the site with the help of just one engineer. He plans to raise funding, incorporate the company, and hire a co-founder and 2 developers to build out the site even more. The site is free to use and Bura says his business model is a combo of AdSense ads and potential partnerships with solar installers — we could see the site as a potentially good lead generator. Check out the system and give Bura some feedback; he’s currently working on validation testing.
Eka Scores Smart Meter Partner Landis+Gyr
Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups
It’s a sizable win for the 8-year-old Eka; Landis+Gyr is a huge, century-old company that has 5,000 employees and is a forerunner in the advanced meter infrastructure market. Eka is no slouch, either. Based out of Germantown, Md., the startup has reportedly raised around $40 million in funding to date. Its most recent round, for $18.5 million, which the company announced in July, was led by Flybridge Capital Partners and including the Angeleno Group, RockPort Capital Partners, The Westly Group and Metropolitan Investment.
Smart meters should run over wireless mesh networks, explained Eka’s director of products, Chris Irwin, because mesh can provide one of the cheapest available wireless communications for in-home technologies that utilities would support. Utilities could run connected smart meter services over wireless mesh for just a portion of the price, compared with using, say, a phone company’s cellular networks, Irwin says.
While the U.S. has been slow to implement smart meter technology, Irwin has seen utilities installing the technology a lot faster over the past year. That’s promising, because as Irwin notes, the industry has only really scratched the surface; of the nation’s hundreds of millions of homes and buildings, only a fraction have smart meter tech installed. And in order to build a truly smart grid, numerous additional steps still need to be taken on the hardware, software and networking sides before we can truly build out our ailing electrical systems. In a sign of better things to come, however, California utility PG&E said last month that it has partnered with smart grid networking company Silver Springs to deliver smart grid tech to 5 million customers.
The Daily Sprout
Craig Rubens - Misc
Q&A with Paul Holland of Foundation Capital: Holland says that “we’re entering the second inning of the clean-tech investing game.” So who’s batting cleanup? - San Jose Mercury News.
Barclays Invests in Mainstream Renewable Power: The U.K. bank led a €40 million ($60 million) equity fund raising round for Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power, investing €20 million of its own capital, taking a 14.6 percent stake in Mainstream - Cleantech Group.
Metabolix Growing Plastic: Bioplastics company Metabolix says it has spliced plastic-making genes into switchgrass, allowing it to grow the grass and then harvest the plastic while making the leftover biomass into energy. The company says the process could be commercialized by 2012 - CNet.
California Considering Landmark Emissions Planning Bill: California Senate Bill 375 proposes linking greenhouse gas reduction goals with regional land use planning, a crucial connection if the state is to achieve the lofty goals of AB 32. SB 375 is gaining momentum and heading to the Assembly floor for debate - ClimateIntel.
Bosch Investing Big in Electric Vehicles: The German automotive supplier Bosch is investing heavily in electric vehicle technologies, including $400 million in a joint venture with Samsung to develop lithium ion batteries. Bosch says they expect the internal combustion engine to fade out over the next two decades - Autoblog Green.
CatGenie Wishes Its Litter Box Were Green: In case you were worried about the environmental impact that little Whisker’s scat is having on your local landfill, the CatGenie has an unbelievably complicated solution for you. The automated litter box washes, purifies, rotates, scrubs, dissolves, sifts, aerates, dries and flushes your kitty’s little presents - CatGenie.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment