Smart Energy News

San Rafael, Calif. – SunLink, a provider of commercial photovoltaic mounting technology, has acquired Blue Oak PV Products, a manufacturer of solar combiner boxes, which are used in connecting solar panels.

Founded in 2006, Blue Oak has sold combiner boxes uses in photovoltaic installations at hundreds of sites across the country, including the 2.4 megawatt Fedex rooftop system in Woodbridge, N.J. and the solar-powered billboard at Times Square in New York.

SunLink’s commercial roof and ground mount systems are available in multiple tilt angles and non-penetrating options for a wide-variety of solar panels, providing flexible system design and high performance. The company also offers “pre-panelization” services for its rooftop product that reduce installation costs.

SunLink’s venture capital investors include Clean Pacific Ventures and Angeleno Group. Terms of the company’s acquisition of Blue Oak PV Products were not disclosed.

Blue Oak PV Products

SunLink website

Flagstaff, Ariz. – Southwest Windpower, a Flagstaff-maker of small wind turbines, has acquired Deerpath Energy, a provider of site analysis and deployment services for small wind energy projects.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Founded in 2008 and based in Massachusetts, Deerpath was backed by $3.5 million in venture capital prior to its acquisition, from investors that included RockPort Capital Partners. The company focuses on small, community-scale wind projects.

Since 2007, Southwest Windpower and Deerpath have been strategic partners in the development of in-depth modeling and economic software to determine optimal site selection for Southwest’s wind systems. Deerpath will remain based in Massachusetts following the acquisition, according to an announcement.

Southwest Windpower also has operations in Cologne, Germany, and a joint venture in Ningbo, China. Its products are used residential homes, commercial properties, micro grids, remote cabins, telecom transmitters, offshore platforms, water pumping and sailboats.

Southwest Wind website

Redwood City, Calif. – Trilliant, a Redwood City-based developer of smart grid technology, has raised $106 million in a round of venture capital led by Investor Growth Capital and VantagePoint Growth Capital.

Founded in 1985, Trilliant offers hardware and software that enable utilities to provide various advanced metering and smart grid services. The company’s wireless mesh equipment supports two-way communication networks throughout the electric grid, from head-end operations centers to all devices on the grid, not only meters and in-home energy management devices but also substations and grid devices such as transformers and capacitor banks.

Trilliant says its technology architects envision an “Energy Internet” that not only connects home devices like thermostats, appliances, solar panels, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) but also connects all other devices on the grid, including distributed power generation, distribution substations, and a variety of other grid assets.

In May 2009, Trilliant acquired SkyPilot Networks, a manufacturer of long-range, high-capacity wireless mesh networks.

The company plans to expand outside the U.S. and could be preparing for an initial public offering, according to a company spokesman cited in a published report.

Trilliant website

Washington — The U.S. Department of Energy announced it has selected ten projects that are developing advanced technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal combustion. DOE will grant the ten projects a total of up to $67 million over three years.

Membrane Technology and Research, based in Joseph City, Ariz., will receive $14.8 million to construct a 1 megawatt membrane skid capable of 90% CO2 capture from a slipstream flow of 20 tons-of-CO2/day in coal-fired flue gas during a six-month field test at the Arizona Public Service Cholla Power Plant. Field test data and membrane performance data obtained at the National Carbon Capture Center will clarify the potential of the approach.

Siemens Energy will receive $9 million to design, install, and operate a pilot plant for treating a slipstream (1 megawatt equivalent) at the TECO Energy Big Bend Station to demonstrate “Postcap” technology for post-combustion CO2 gas capture. Siemens’ Postcap technology uses an amino acid salt formulation as a solvent for CO2 absorption.

ADA-ES Inc., based in Littleton, Colo., and its partners will refine the conceptual design of a commercial solid sorbent-based, post-combustion CO2 capture technology through slipstream pilot testing and process modeling. A pilot unit (1 megawatt) will be designed and constructed for operation at one of the cost-share participant’s power plant sites to demonstrate solid sorbent-based CO2 capture on actual flue gas for at least two continuous months. DOE will provide $11.1 million for this project.

Descriptions for the several other carbon capture projects just selected for DOE funding are available at the link below.

DOE Award announcement

St. Peters, Mo. – MEMC Electronic Materials, a maker of semiconductor and solar wafers, has acquired Solaicx, a privately held, California-based maker of silicon ingots for the solar industry, for $66 million in cash.

MEMC said that the initial merger price, plus an additional amount of about $10 million in cash, is equal to amounts that have recently been invested in Solaicx by its existing shareholders.

Solaicx’s system is designed for very high volume materials handling, as compared to silicon wafers produced in the traditional precision semiconductor manufacturing process, which the company says ensures better utilization of raw silicon feedstock at a significantly lower cost. Founded in 2002, Solaicx has about 80 employees and a large-scale production facility in Portland, Ore.

MEMC said the acquisition provides it with the ability “to drive solar industry toward grid parity.”

Solaicx website

MEMC website