Gates-backed Fourth Power pilots thermal storage based on TPV cells
Fourth Power, backed by Bill Gates’ venture firm, has developed high-density thermal energy storage based on thermophotovoltaic cells. The tech, which is reportedly 10 times cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, is based on the U.S. company’s patented liquid metal heat transfer system.
CubicPV receives $103 million commitment for U.S. wafer manufacturing
Driven by incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, CubicPV plans to establish 10 GW of conventional mono wafer manufacturing capacity in the United States. The wafers produced by the new facility could fill a void in the domestic supply chain as well as create 1,500 new direct jobs.
Bill Gates-backed fund invests in automated utility-scale solar installation platform
Terabase Energy raised $44 million in funding round, supporting digital and robotic platform for building utility-scale solar power plants.
Energy Transition Jobs: PG&E, Nexus Power Group, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and more
Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities, and energy transition finance.
Funding energy innovation should be a national priority — how about $25 billion a year?
Two new reports see federal R&D dollars for energy innovation as critical for driving the economy’s post-Covid recovery and keeping the U.S. competitive and on the leading edge of the global energy transition.
Clean energy funding: Ex-Tesla CTO raises $40 million to recycle batteries, plus nuclear fusion and fission
Investors continue to invest and clean energy entrepreneurs continue to innovate — despite global setbacks. Here are five companies that have raised more than $60 million in funding in recent days — ranging across the cleantech spectrum from batteries to fusion to solar software for O&M.
Energy Jobs: JB Straubel’s battery recycling startup, Powerhouse, Total, Broad Reach Power, Span, Facebook, Clean Energy for Biden
Executive, career and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy VC — plus some select job openings.
Bill Gates leads $10M investment in Quidnet’s long-duration geomechanical pumped storage
The year of living durationally — the holy grail of energy storage has always been low-cost and long-duration. Venture investors have started putting their money into novel, extended-duration storage technologies.
