Weekly Review June 23-30

Continue reading to check out the news from the clean tech industry and its impact in emerging markets.

“Khosla-backed SunBorne Energy raising $20M for Indian Solar” by Katie Fehrenbacher on GigaOM
Playing into what promises to be a growing market, SunBorne Energy is raising $20 million to fund utility-scale solar power plants in India. The company is one of many riding the wave of state-run contract auctions and efforts to reach 20GW of installed solar power by 2020. Considering the growing demand for energy of any kind in India, there’s no doubt that the solar market will be “absolutely huge.”

“The World’s Poor Deserve Greener Energy, Too” by Carl Pope on Bloomberg
The rising costs of oil and coal are yet another reason why bottom-up renewable solutions are the way to bring electricity to the 1.4 billion people worldwide who lack it. While traditional fossil fuel energy resources are rising in cost, LED lights and solar power are declining in cost. To increase living standards and energy access, emerging markets must revamp their institutional and financial approaches to energy in favor of bottom-up strategies, off-grid solutions, and small-scale enterprises.

“IFC and Scatec Solar to develop solar power plants in Africa” by Wallace Mawire on African Review
The International Finance Corporation and Sactec Solar are leveraging the Global Infrastructure Development Fund for a large-scale project to build PV solar plants across West and Central Africa. The new plants come in response to sub-Saharan Africa’s growing need for energy and are expected to generate at least 10MW of solar power.

“Is A Clean Energy Access Market Finally Emerging?” by Sanjoy Sanyal on Next Billion
Given the effectiveness and potential success of decentralized energy solutions, appropriate and targeted financing solutions are necessary for scale. Investors like us are seeing that opportunity and are seeking to support it. Look out for the Simpa Networks mention in the post.

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