San Jose's Environmental Innovation Center is Online

San Jose's long-delayed Environmental Innovation Center is now open at 1608 Las Plumas Avenue. This is a $31.4 million project that is owned by the city and leased out to several different organizations.

The nonprofit Prospect Silicon Valley has about 22,000 SQFT, which they are using to showcase innovations that lead to smart, clean, and connected cities. The technology comes from various incubators and they serve as a resource to connect companies, investors, and start-ups interested in green-tech.

Another 15,000 SQFT is taken up by Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which lets both builders and consumers buy donated construction materials. The proceeds go to supporting the mission and work of Habitat for Humanity.

It also houses a Household Hazardous Waste Facility, with will be the only permanent facility of its kind in San Jose. The only other two facilities for Household Hazardous Waste in the county are in Sunnyvale and San Martin.

Lastly, the building itself is a monument to sustainability. If you have a look at the last image below, you can get an idea of the green-tech features that are utilized throughout the project.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose's Silicor Materials Nabs $6M

Silicor Materials manufactures silicon and aluminum products utilized by the solar industry, with the goal of pushing down costs of solar technology. It seems like Green-tech is still hot in as most of the San Jose-based companies getting funding this year seem to be in this space.

Silicon raised $6 million and will use the money to grow and prepare for the next round of capital.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranks as the #2 Clean Tech City in the US

Clean Edge has put out a report that looks at clean tech leadership and has ranked all of the metros in the US. Not surprisingly, five of the top 10 were in California. What did surprise me is that San Francisco (which includes San Mateo and Oakland) outranked the San Jose metro. I really have to question this considering the tremendous concentration of clean/green-tech companies in the South Bay. However, #2 among all US Metros is nothing to be disappointed about, especially considering that the next metro on the list was not even close to San Jose.

Source: Silicon Beat

San Jose Ranked #1 Cleantech City in the Nation

This one is not much of a surprise... in the inaugural Clean Tech Index, San Jose is the top cleantech city in the country. Several metrics were taken into consideration such as the number of LEED-certified green buildings, advanced transportation options, clean electricity, clean investment, electric vehicle registrations, and clean-energy patents. This is an emerging market and one that is very important for San Jose to maintain its leadership in. The top 10 list is below:

1. San Jose
2. San Francisco
3. Portland, Ore.
4. Sacramento
5. Seattle
6. Denver
7. Los Angeles
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Boston
10. Austin

Source: The Merc

Nanosolar Prints Out $70M

A hot San Jose greentech company that specializes in printing solar sheets that are as thin as aluminum foil has just grabbed a cool $70M in their latest round. Not only are they producing the thinnest solar "panels" around, but they also claim to have the least expensive in the world. Perhaps one day you'll even see these types of panels outside of the residential/commercial energy space. I could see wrapping handheld electronics, laptops, cars, and even airplanes with this tech.

Source: SJBJ

Gen110 Connects 1,200 South Bay Homes with Local Power

The solar energy market is continuing to gain traction in San Jose. Gen110 has recently issued a press release announcing that they have completed solar installations in over 1,200 South Bay homes. What is especially interesting is that one of those 1,200 is a Ida Perracci's house in Alum Rock. She decided to have solar installed on her 100th Birthday (!) ... I guess it's never too late to go green. Check out the full release below along with a photo of Ida.

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Distributed energy leader helps 100-year-old San Jose customer save money with solar


San Jose, Calif., June 13, 2012 - Gen110, the leading distributed electricity company, today announced it has brought cost-effective distributed power to more than 1,200 households in the South Bay in the form of solar electricity. The company now powers more than 40 percent of solar installations in the San Jose metropolitan area, California’s third-biggest solar market.

Gen110’s approach helps energy-intensive households lock down higher-tier energy rates while avoiding rate hikes prevalent to South Bay power customers. By providing access to the best technologies and financing solutions available with a low upfront investment, Gen110 helps customers save approximately $50,000 over twenty years on their energy bill.

“Many South Bay residents don’t know they’re overpaying for energy, or that alternatives exist to help lower their bills. That’s where Gen110 comes in,” said Michael Abramovic, director of Gen110’s South Bay office. “Savvy South Bay customers have been quick to understand that our solution makes smart economic sense, and we’re pleased that so many have decided to replace their higher-tier energy use with distributed power.”

For many of the region’s retired residents living on fixed incomes, this spells opportunity: 100-year-old Ida Perracci of Alum Rock was one of the first to recognize its potential benefit to her wallet and the environment. Perracci signed on to install a Gen110 power plant on her home on the day of her centennial birthday party, locking into predictable energy rates starting now.

“You’re never too old to go solar,” said Perracci. “I’ve lived in Alum Rock for decades, and for the first time my electricity bill will stop going up. And while the price is right today, solar will continue to benefit my family for years to come.”

About Gen110

Gen110 is the leading distributed energy company providing a cost-effective, alternative
way for heavy energy users to purchase residential power. Gen110 has helped more
than 2,000 homeowners in California avoid utility rate hikes by producing approximately
13 gigawatt hours of electricity annually at their own homes. A private company based

in San Francisco, Gen110 was founded in 2009 to free customers from total dependence
on traditional utility companies. To learn more, visit gen110.com. You can also follow us
on Facebook (facebook.com/Gen110) and Twitter (twitter.com/gen_110).

Solar Junction Nabs $19.2M

The latest San Jose green-tech company to get additional funding is Solar Junction. They have raised an additional $19.2M to scale up manufacturing of their concentrated photovoltaic cells. The goal of their technology is to make the most cost effective and therefore commercially viable solar cells on the market. As a side note, in addition to being based in San Jose, they also do their manufacturing domestically.

Source: SJBJ

San Jose Gets $27M For Environmental Center

The city of San Jose is about to receive a substantial chunk of cash in order to build an Environmental Innovation Center that will focus on showing off emerging clean technologies as well as selling sustainable construction materials. San Jose will be the first municipality to receive state tax credits for this type  initiative.

Construction of the Environmental Center is expected to be completed December 2012. For more info, click here.

San Jose's Stion Raises $130M

Stion is a San Jose green-tech company that makes high-efficiency, thing-film solar modules. They just finished a $130M equity round which will no doubt help them grow. If you want to check out their product, they are part of the green showcase across the street from city hall. For more info, click here.

New Electric Car Charging Stations Downtown

As a little Christmas present to electric car drivers, the week of the 20th will kick off the ability to start using the charging stations right in front of City Hall between 4th and 5th on Santa Clara Street. Coulomb Technologies will be installing at least 5 EV stations, 4 in front of City Hall and one in the San Fernando and Fourth Street garage. This is in addition to the 2 in the Convention Center installed earlier this year.

San Jose is the first city in the country to put in these charging stations. Likely Coulomb will try to turn the space in front of City Hall into a "demo" zone showing other cities how non-obtrusive EV charging solutions could be deployed in their city. Some ideas they are throwing around for this area are repaving part of the sidewalk with green recycled concrete and adding solar cooling stations.

For more info, check out the SJ Business Journal article over here.

Tesla Factory Opens In Silicon Valley

I've been debating on whether to post about this for some time since the plant is located in Fremont, but I have to give Tesla some credit since they made an honest attempt to move to North San Jose first (they were blocked by government regulations on use of their loan funds). Very likely, you have already heard the news that Tesla has moved into the gargantuan NUMMI plant just a few miles away from SJ. The question I have, is how will this impact our city?

I have a few thoughts on this. San Jose has really made a name for itself for incubating and promoting green tech companies. In fact, we have the largest green tech cluster in the US and potentially the world. You can find everything from alternative energy companies to technologies making existing products more energy efficient... all right in our back yard. While green tech may not be as exciting as the .com extravaganza that made us famous in the late nineties, having Tesla nearby complements not only our existing green tech companies, but will help the region hit a critical mass for green tech much the same way we did for semiconductors and internet technologies.

Right before the turn of the millennium, I remember casually meeting the CEO of a tech company at SJC. It turns out he was planning to relocate his entire company to San Jose, and when I asked him why he told me "We want to be closer to ground zero. In our industry, this is where all the action is." We need to build that exact same kind of mentality for green tech. Green companies should be telling themselves that they have to be located in San Jose because that is where all the energy behind the green tech movement is emanating from. Having a company next door who is the leading pioneer of electronic vehicle technologies is going to help a lot in building that perception. So Tesla, welcome to the neighborhood! You can borrow the lawnmower anytime.



Tesla took possession of the Nummi automotive plant in Fremont, California earlier this month and opened the doors to employee tours on Wednesday. In the months since Tesla announced the purchase, negotiations with Nummi have enabled the repurposing of a complete paint shop, four mechanical press lines, a blanking line (used to cut sheets of aluminum before stamping), and a crane for use in the Model S production process. The purchased machinery will simply be retooled and tested before use. The Hydraulic Press Line has started to arrive; 50 trucks are en route to transport the entire line to Fremont. 

Tesla is focused on hiring the most talented people, retooling the facility, and creating the most energy-efficient and innovative automotive production process in the industry. 

For an explanation of the manufacturing process, please read Manufacturing VP Gilbert Passin's recent blog post. 

Adobe Gets Even Greener

LEED is a certification standard used to measure how "green" a building is, specifically measuring the environmentally sustainability of the design, construction, and operation of the building. There are 4 different obtainable rankings: LEED Bronze, LEED Silver, LEED Gold, and LEED Platinum... the last of which is essentially a tree-house powered by hugs. There are only 15 or so LEED Platinum high-rise buildings in the world, and 3 of them are in Downtown San Jose. As you might have guessed from this post's title, Adobe owns all 3. Despite already being at the very highest echelon of green, they managed to find a way to take it to the next level. 

Adobe will install 4 "Bloom Boxes" on top of each tower, which will generate 1/3 of the energy required to run the entire complex. In a nutshell, a Bloom Box is a futuristic fuel cell array that generates up to 100 kilowatts of electricity using air and natural gas while producing little to no emissions. Adobe will have a total of 12 of these to complement the 20 turbine wind farm they have already installed on site (seriously, take a good look at the towers next time you're in downtown, you can see them). For more information on Adobe's quest for LEED certifications that have yet to exist, check out this GreenBeat article.