I moderated a Greentech Panel in Santa Clara, CA on Friday the 29th that was hosted and organized by the FountainBlue organization.
We were taking a quick look at the state of the greentech industry.
The panelists:
- Dan Adler, President, California Clean Energy Fund
- Matt Maloney, Head of Relationship Management, Silicon Valley Bank
- Tim Woodward, Managing Director, Nth Power
- Laurie Yoler, Managing Director, GrowthPoint Technology Partners
- Elise Zoli, Partner and Chair, Energy Practice, Goodwin Procter
Here are some random notes from these smart panelists:
Overcooked sectors in cleantech
- Microinverters (Woodward)
- Carbon accounting, maybe not over-invested, just premature (Adler)
Overlooked sectors in cleantech
- Water (Zoli)
- Nuclear (Zoli)
- Energy storage at grid-scale (Woodward)
- Waste Energy (It's one of our favorite forms of energy here.)
Energy policies that could be improved
- Improved transmission technology and policy (Yoler)
- Pricing incentives -- removing current subsidies on imported oil and an effective cap and trade program (Yoler)
- Better administration of loan guarantee -- DOE must get out of its own way (Maloney)
- Better deployment mechanisms -- large-scale infrastructure for renewables (Adler)
- Better deployment mechanisms at the consumer level -- access to alternative fuels (Adler)
- Better methods of getting technology out of the labs (Zoli)
Highlights of the companies the panelists are associated with
- CSP player Brightsource Energy teaming with Bechtel (Adler)
- Rooftop CPV start-up Soliant gaining a new CEO from Evergreen Solar (Woodward)
- Silicon ink vendor Innovalight making the (smart) strategic change in business plan to be a materials supplier and not a module manufacturer (Maloney)