CleanTech OC Daily - 1/16/13

Can EDF Bring Energy Efficiency to the Investor Market?
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has spearheaded the EDF Investor Confidence Project (ICP) project for the past two years in order to open up energy efficiency to investment markets. In the first major step, an initial set of protocols, now available to the commercial energy efficiency industry, are meant to serve as the minimum requirements for an investment quality analysis and how to maintain and validate lower energy use. The project is a work in progress, therefore the EDF is hosting multiple webinars to discuss the project.

Solar panel rooftop startup Sungevity raises a whopping $125 million

This morning, Sungevity, a solar sales and marketing startup, announced its raised $125 million in funding to grow its business and its solar panel rooftop projects. The company, which was founded in 2007, handles sales and marketing, system designs and financing deals, for residential solar panel systems, but the company farms out the installation work to contractors.

World’s First Renewable Energy Resources Atlas Goes Online

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has launched the first ever online Global Atlas of renewable energy resources in order to raise the awareness about the renewable energy potential of the planet. The atlas (www.irena.org/GlobalAtlas) will help countries assess their renewable energy generating potential through data and maps.