Cleantech Update

Associated Press Halliburton confirms well contamination in Okla. Associated Press, 07.08.11, 11:20 AM EDT DUNCAN, Okla. -- Halliburton Co. has found contamination in 18 water wells in Duncan, Okla. and said it's taking steps to correct the problem. In testing the wells, Halliburton ( HAL - news - people ) detected perchlorate, which it described as a colorless salt that could - in high enough concentrations - cause adverse health effects, particularly with the thyroid gland, the company said Thursday. Halliburton said perchlorate is not a carcinogen. Article Controls The wells are located on Duncan's north side, where Halliburton used to perform government contract work involving removing and burning spent missile fuel contained in missile casings. It's been 20 years since Halliburton conducted operations at the site but the company thinks the work probably contributed to the groundwater contamination. The company collected the water samples from the wells to...

The Obama administration on Friday used the California site of a planned solar-panel factory to complete the first-ever loan guarantee for a renewable-energy project, a $535 million deal that will allow Solyndra Inc. to create hundreds of jobs. The announcement, outlined by Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a region battered by an auto-factory shutdown, comes as Obama administration officials are hoping to show that investments in clean energy projects can help reverse almost two years of job losses. In March, Solyndra became the first company awarded a loan guarantee under a 2005 program intended to spur renewable energy projects. But the company for months had been unable to lock in the loan because of problems raising the necessary private funds required by the Energy Department to close the deal. Fortunately for Solyndra, its venture backers stepped up, investing $198 million in equity in a round led by shareholder Argonaut Private Equity, an investm...

Trinia gets new loan as Solar prices drop., taking adavance of their stock trippling in the last year.

"Silicon Valley Six" companies are ripe for M&A or IPO * Top four are Solyndra, LinkedIn, Silver Spring, Zynga * Companies have $100 million revenue, proven record By David Lawsky SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Investors, encouraged by a growing number of acquisitions and public floats in the past few months, are keeping a close eye on a coterie of promising startups in Silicon Valley. An informal poll of venture capitalists and others pointed to six privately held companies as the ripest for acquisition or readiness to go public, out of 34 cited in industries ranging from alternative energy to social networking. For now, the Silicon Valley Six say they intend to keep growing rather than agreeing to be acquired or go public during the recession. The top four are business social network LinkedIn, solar panel maker Solyndra, smart grid company Silver Spring, Zynga, a casual games company whose products run on social networks like Facebook. Two others ...

Yingli Enery Holding Company, China's largest PV Producer, producing 450-500 Megawatts this year, has declared a loss on unchaged production. Add this to Spains. PV market drop and we are see ing the affect of PV Overall Prices coming down. -Editor NEW YORK (AP) — Solar cell maker Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss driven by one-time charges, sending shares tumbling in premarket trading. Shares of Yingli fell 12.5 percent, or $1.47, to $10.27. The Baoding, China-based company reported a loss of 393.7 million Renminbi ($57.6 million), or 3.03 Renminbi per American Depository Share (44 cents per ADS), compared with earnings of $203.9 million Renminbi, or 1.57 Renminbi per ADS ,during the same period last year. Results include charges related to debt extinguishment and derivative liabilities. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings amounted to 119.8 million Renminbi ($17.5 million), or 0.91 Renminbi per ADS (14 cents per ADS). An...

JERUSALEM, July 9 (Reuters) - It may take a little bit of colour to create cheaper solar energy. Israeli start-up 3GSolar says it has developed the world's first commercial-size solar energy system that uses coloured dyes to turn sunlight into electricity. The technology emerged from a relatively new field in solar energy that uses simple organic dyes instead of rare or costly materials, like silicon, which scare many consumers away from solar power. Energy companies have been struggling for years to make dye-sensitised solar cells (DSC) large enough to be used in commercial-size systems. Such next generation cells could be used in cutting-edge applications, like windows that turn passing sun rays into electricity. Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony Corp ( 6758.T ) said last year it had developed dye-sensitised cells with an energy conversion efficiency of 10 percent, a level seen necessary for commercial use, but that its technology was still in the research and development s...