Tessera Solar loses 663.5-megawatt power purchase agreement – The five-year-old contract with Southern California Edison was originally for power to be generated from Tessera's planned Calico solar project, which was approved about two months ago, Reuters reported. Southern California Edison has now canceled the contract, but neither company has provided any details as to why the deal fell through, citing confidentiality agreements. Tessera has been troubled of late, with regulators ordering a delay on the Imperial Valley project and potential buyers like First Solar approaching the company about buying its land and licenses.
Trina Solar plans to invest $800 million over three year s — The Chinese solar panel maker plans to use the money to expand its factories, according to Bloomberg. The company aims to become a global leader and forecast its 2010 shipments to total about 1 gigawatt, or a 151 percent increase over 2009.
Energy storage startup Silent Power has raised $2 million — The company makes a system for power companies and electric vehicle makers to store energy generated by solar panels, according to Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. This is its first round of funding.
ActaCell grabs over $3 million — The company grabbed up to $3 million of funding over three years from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology. The money will go to scale ActaCell's next generation of lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid and plug-in electric hybrid cars. The company also nabbed a $179,000, 16-month contract to assess the performance and life cycle of its hybrid electric batteries from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, a consortium of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
