Big Fundraising for Solar Companies Big and Small

A good trend. A very good trend. GAIA's Jirka Rysavy sounds like an interesting dude. Perhaps too many years in the office supply and tree-killing paper distribution business has allowed him to see the true magnitude of our collective consumption...thus deciding to build a completely different career dedicated to reversing this trend. Only a guess, but I suspect there is probably some truth to it. eSolar's collection arrays look totally kick-ass. GOOG is a player in this space, for sure. I'd long both. They go hand in hand in the same supply chain. And their fundraising proves the demand part of the equation is now here. Coolio.

On the "utility" scale,

[from CNET.com] Solar power start-up eSolar has raised $130 million in funding, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal says one of eSolar's investors is Google, which announced last November that it would begin investing in alternative energy companies in an effort called RE

Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar has plans to build large solar-thermal plants using the heliostat design, which utilizes an array of flat mirrors that direct sunlight onto a water tower, turning the water inside to steam, which then turns a turbine to make electricity.

Now, the company says, it has come up with a modular design that also enables it to build mini power plants. Such plants are faster to install, smaller, and less expensive to construct than most solar power plants, the company says. eSolar adds that its modular technique can scale, creating power plants that produce anywhere from 25 megawatts of electricity to more than 500 megawatts.

And on the smaller, individual residential scale,

[from Forbes.com] Real Goods Solar Inc., which installs and services residential solar power systems, disclosed the proposed terms of its initial public offering in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday.

The Broomfield, Colo.-based company expects the offering to total 5 million shares and price between $10 and $12. Assuming a price of $11 per share, Real Goods expects to raise about $49.1 million after fees and expenses from the IPO.

Real Goods, which was founded in 1978, said it has installed more than 2,400 residential and small commercial solar energy systems. The company has also sold solar products to more than 30,000 customers. [...]

Real Goods Chairman Jirka Rysavy is chairman and chief executive of Gaiam. Previously he founded office products and services company Corporate Express Inc. [...]

Real Goods plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "RSOL."