CleanTech OC Daily - 11/9/12

Electric bill for OC green home: 91 cents a month

A local Mission Viejo resident remodeled her three-bedroom, two-bathroom home to add energy-efficient lighting and appliances and natural ventilation to reduce summer cooling costs. Solar panels partially cover her roof, and solar tubes shoot light into dark rooms. Her average electric bill is 91 cents a month. Additionally, her $10,000 investment in eco-friendly renovations and components has boosted her home’s value by about $50,000.

The Fantasy of the "Sad Green Story"

New York Times columnist David Brooks’ op-ed entitled "A Sad Green Story" described a failing clean tech sector…but according to the HBR, his piece misses the mark. HBR looks no further than Saturday's Times-reported story on natural gas - a booming industry. One could also look to how green jobs are on the rise or that the percentage of our electricity coming from green energy has doubled in just four years. True, the green sector has seen challenges, but like any industry there is trial and error and eventually you find what works.  

BrightSource actually raising $130M for solar thermal
BrightSource has raised $80 million in equity, but the company is also looking to close on another $50 million. If successful, the solar thermal startup will have raised $665 million to date. BrightSource develops solar thermal plants and uses fields of large mirrors to concentrate sun light onto the top of towers. The tower has a boiler at the top that heats liquid, which in turn runs steam turbines and produces electricity.