Power-One Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

CAMARILLO, Calif.--Power-One, Inc. (NASDAQ:PWER), a leading provider of power conversion and power management solutions, announced the appointment of Linda C. Heller as Senior Vice President, Finance, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, replacing Jeffrey J. Kyle, effective today. Mr. Kyle has resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities. Link. Chart.

Advent Solar announces Semiconductor Industry Veterans to Lead Technology Development and Strategic Marketing

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA –– Advent Solar, Inc., a manufacturer of innovative solar cells and modules, announced today the appointment of two new executives, Fares Bagh and Naresh Baliga. Bagh serves as Advent Solar’s vice president of engineering and technology. He is responsible for architecting Advent Solar’s next generation of innovative solar modules, developing manufacturing technology processes and building technical alliances. As Advent Solar’s vice president of strategic marketing, Baliga creates product marketing strategies and leads Advent Solar’s initiatives in emerging markets. Link.

Voltaix Receives $12.5 Million in Financing from Intel Capital

Branchburg, NJ - Voltaix, a leading provider of materials that enhance the performance of semiconductor chips and solar cells, announced today that it has received $12.5 million in financing from Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corporation. The investment will accelerate the company's manufacturing capacity expansion. Link.

H2scan Secures $4 Million in Series D Funding

VALENCIA, CA -- H2scan Corporation today announced the Company has secured $4 million in Series D funding from Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, H5 Capital, L.P., Tri-Strip Associates, LLC, TGB Partners and Ravinia Venture Fund. This round of financing also includes members of the Tech Coast and Pasadena Angels. All but TGB Partners had previously been investors in H2scan from prior series financing. Link.

Xunlight Appoints Vice President and General Counsel

TOLEDO, OH -- Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the development of low-cost and flexible thin-film silicon solar modules, announced the appointment of W. Granger Souder, Jr. as its Vice President and General Counsel. Mr. Souder will be responsible for the Company's legal and regulatory affairs including corporate compliance and governance, contract administration, and the legal aspects of joint ventures, strategic partnerships and financing activities. Link.

Denham to Invest $145 Million in Vulcan Power

BEND, Ore. and BOSTON, –– Vulcan Power Company and Denham Capital announced today that Denham will invest $145 million in newly issued preferred equity securities of Vulcan. In addition, Merrill Lynch Commodity Partners (“MLCP”), a principal investment fund of Merrill Lynch, will convert its outstanding notes into Vulcan preferred equity. Vulcan owns one of the largest geothermal property portfolios in the United States including properties in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona. The Denham investment will allow Vulcan to continue to develop prime geothermal property with potential to generate 900 to 2,000 megawatts (MW) of natural steam fuel – enough to provide baseload renewable energy for up to two million people. Link.

ActaCell Closes $5.8 Million Series A Financing

AUSTIN, Texas –– ActaCell, Inc. announced today that it secured $5.8 million in Series A financing. DFJ Mercury led the round with syndicate investment from Google.org’s RechargeIT program, Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc. and Good Energies, a leading global investor in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry. The proceeds from the Series A financing will be used to hire key technical talent and to further develop ActaCell’s innovative lithium-ion battery technology for commercial purposes. Link.

Amadeus Backs GreenRoad

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. and LONDON – GreenRoad Technologies, a world leader in driver safety technologies, today announced that Amadeus Capital Partners, the European technology investor, has joined Virgin Green Fund, Benchmark Capital, and Balderton Capital in providing C round financing of $17.5 million. The funding will be used to expand the company’s R&D, sales and marketing efforts. Richard Anton, Amadeus Partner, becomes the newest member of GreenRoad’s Board of Directors. Link.

Carbonetworks Announces First Close of $5 Million Series A Financing

VICTORIA, British Columbia, -- Carbonetworks Corporation, a pioneering provider of enterprise greenhouse gas emissions management software and services, today announced the first close of its $5 Million Series A round of financing. The funding was provided by NGEN II, L.P., part of the NGEN Partners group of leading cleantech venture funds. Link.

Xethanol Hires Dr. Rom Papadopoulos as New Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Atlanta, GA -- Xethanol Corporation (AMEX: XNL), a renewable energy company, announced that it has hired Dr. Rom Papadopoulos, former Managing Director of The Jacoby Group, an Atlanta based investment group, to serve as its Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. In those roles, Dr. Papadopoulos will explore growth alternatives for Xethanol’s business. Those alternatives include mergers and acquisitions, investments, and new product lines in renewable energy. The company also announced that its previous Chief Financial Officer, Gary Flicker, will pursue other career interests. Link. Chart.

ReneSola Appoints Mr. Robert Naii Lee as Independent Director

JIASHAN, China, – ReneSola Ltd, a leading global manufacturer of solar wafers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Robert Naii Lee to its board as an independent director. Mr. Lee replaces Mr. Binghua Huang who has retired as director and chief technology officer. Link. Chart.

Xunlight Receives $4.9 million Award from State of Ohio

Toledo, Ohio –– Xunlight Corporation, a leader in the development of low cost and flexible thin-film silicon solar modules, announced it has been awarded $4.9 million from the State of Ohio’s Research Commercialization Program to leverage its technology into Ohio-based manufacturing lines and bring new products to market. The proposed project has three primary objectives: develop an improved, advanced thin-film solar-cell fabrication technology; develop an improved, advanced flexible solar module manufacturing process, with the necessary equipment; and develop advanced photovoltaic products targeted to markets to leverage the competitive characteristics of their thin-film solar cells. Link.

Wakonda Raises $9.5 Million in Series A Financing

MEDFORD, Mass., -- Wakonda Technologies, Inc., a developer of solar photovoltaic (PV) products, today announced it has raised $9.5 million in Series A financing from ATV (Advanced Technology
Ventures), General Catalyst Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Applied Ventures, LLC (the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc.) and the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund. Link.

Recurrent Energy Nabs $75 Million for Solar as a Service

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, and TEANECK, NJ –– Recurrent Energy, a leading solar power developer and the pioneer in Solar as a ServiceSM, announced at the Intersolar North America conference that it has partnered with Hudson Clean Energy Partners. Hudson has committed an initial $75MM to fund the expansion of Recurrent Energy’s business providing Solar as a Service to commercial and industrial properties, as well as utility and government markets in North America, and emerging markets worldwide. Link.

Arisdyne Systems Completes Series A Financing

CLEVELAND, OH – Arisdyne Systems, an alternative fuel, cavitation technology and equipment company headquartered in Cleveland, recently raised $5.3 million in new equity financing to facilitate research on biofuel production methods. The completed financing confirms Arisdyne’s initial success, and augments previous funding from the core group of investors. Capital was raised as part of the restructuring that established Arisdyne as an entity independent from parent company Five Star Technologies. Link.

Clean Harbors Appoints Simon Gerlin Senior Vice President of Finance

Norwell, MA –– Clean Harbors, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLHB), the leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services throughout North America, announced the Company has named Simon R. Gerlin, 50, to the newly created position of Senior Vice President of Finance, effective immediately. Gerlin will report to Clean Harbors’ Chief Financial Officer, James M. Rutledge. Gerlin will oversee all of the Company’s controllership functions, including the corporate controller function and the business unit controller functions. Additionally, Gerlin will play a key role in the Company’s internal audit function going forward. Link. Chart.

JA Solar Appoints New Chief Operating Officer

HEBEI, China, -- JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq:JASO) today announced the appointment of Dr. Elmer Hsu as Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Hsu will be replacing Dr. Kang Sun and will assume the role of new COO effective August 1, 2008. Link. Chart.

International Rectifier Names Tim Bixler Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- International Rectifier Corporation (NYSE:IRF) announced the appointment of Tim Bixler as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, effective immediately. In this role, Tim will be responsible for management of the legal function of the Company including directing the Company's legal affairs, providing legal counsel to the Board of Directors, management and employees and creating strong working relationships with the business units and functions. Mr. Bixler will report to the Company's Chief Administrative Officer, Don Dancer. Link. Chart.

eSolar Taps New CFO

PASADENA, Calif. -- eSolar™, a producer of modular, scalable solar thermal power plants, announced the addition of Merrick Kerr as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As CFO, Mr. Kerr will oversee the financial and administrative functions of the Company as it expands its presence across the southwest United States and globally. Mr. Kerr joins the Company following the closing of $130 million in funding from Idealab, Oak Investment Partners and Google.org, as well as a recently announced power purchase agreement (PPA) with Southern California Edison to produce 245 MW of solar thermal power. Link.

Intel Expands Its Cleantech Portfolio with Sulfurcell Investment

MUNICH, Germany and SANTA CLARA, Calif., – As an important part of its cleantech investing, Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, has invested € 24 million in Sulfurcell, a leading German developer and manufacturer of thin-film, electricity-generating solar modules. Sulfurcell will use the new investment to significantly expand production with a new plant in Berlin. Intel Capital led the € 85 million total equity round, with a € 24 million investment. European cleantech investors including Climate Change Capital Private Equity (London), AIG (Zurich), Demeter Partners (Paris), Zouk Ventures (London) and BankInvest (Copenhagen) invested € 38 million with the remainder of the round coming from existing investors. Link. Chart.

iWatt, Inc. Raises $12.4 Million in Series E Financing

Los Gatos, CA – iWatt, Inc., a leader in digital power IC and Systems products and technology, announced today the closing of a $12.4 Million Series E financing round, led by a strategic investor. Existing investors VantagePoint Venture Partners, Sigma Partners and Horizon Ventures, as well as several private investors, also participated in the round. The funding will be used to enhance the company's working capital to facilitate the rapid growth of its green technology products focused on AC-DC and DC-DC applications. Link.

Mike Donoughe Joins Tesla Motors as EVP Vehicle Engineering and Manufacturing

SAN CARLOS, Calif. -- Mike Donoughe, a veteran auto industry executive, has joined Tesla Motors as Executive Vice President, Vehicle Engineering and Manufacturing. In this role, Mike will be responsible for manufacturing, supply chain, quality and operations for the company. In addition, Mike will oversee both the Roadster Program and the ‘Model S’ program, a 4 door, 5 passenger electric sports sedan. Link.

Raychem Founder Paul M. Cook Joins Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERI) Board of Directors

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. -- Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII), a global leader of ultra-high-efficiency energy recovery products and technology for sea water desalination, announced today that legendary radiation-chemistry pioneer Paul M. Cook joined the Company's Board of Directors. Link. Chart.

Cyber-Rain Announces Round of Funding

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. -- Cyber-Rain, makers of a unique and easy-to-use smart sprinkler controller system, today announced an agreement with a group of current and new investors to provide Series A financing. The announcement comes amid soaring water prices and the need for better water conservation on the part of individuals and municipalities alike. Link.

Eka Systems Receives $18.5 Million Financing to Broaden Utility Networking Capabilities

Germantown, MD, -- Eka Systems, a global leader in providing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Grid solutions for electric, gas, and water utilities, today announced they have closed an $18.5 million Series D round of funding. Led by Flybridge Capital Partners, the investment included participation from Angeleno Group, RockPort Capital Partners, The Westly Group, and Metropolitan Investment. Eka Systems’ solutions are targeted at the expanding $100 billion energy worldwide market where utilities are seeking the benefits of smart metering and Smart Grid solutions. Link.

Advent Solar Appoints New Chief Strategic Officer

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA -- Advent Solar, Inc., a manufacturer of innovative solar cells and modules, announced today the hiring of Martin Hermann as the company's new Chief Strategic Officer. Hermann is a successful entrepreneur with 17 years of executive management experience in international start-up and Fortune 100 companies. Link.

ATEL Ventures Commits $5.0 Million in Equipment Lease Financing to Innovalight, Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO -- ATEL Ventures, a leading provider of secured financing to emerging growth companies, has announced that they have committed $5.0 million in equipment lease financing to Innovalight, Inc., a privately held company focused on making inexpensive, portable solar power systems using nanotechnology. Link.

Paul Ciandrini Joins HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc. as President and CEO

Petaluma, Calif., – HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc., provider of the WeatherTRAK® smart water management solution, today announced the appointment of Paul Ciandrini as president and chief executive officer. In this role, Mr. Ciandrini will be responsible for day-to-day operations and the strategic development of the company's proven water-saving technology. Former HydroPoint CEO and founder Chris Spain will serve as chairman of the company's board of directors and chief strategy officer. Link.

Tigo Energy Scores $6 Million

Los Gatos, CA –– Tigo Energy, a solar company whose technology enables increased efficiency in commercial and residential solar installations, announced today it has raised $6 million in a round co-led by and Matrix Partners and OVP Venture Partners. Link.

Intelligent Energy Funding Round Completed

Loughborough, UK -- Intelligent Energy has raised $13.6 m from a recent round of private funding. The funds will be used to provide for Intelligent Energy’s growth plans as it moves towards commercialisation of its clean and efficient hydrogen fuel cell technology in applications across a broad range of global target markets. Link.

Energy Recovery, Inc. Prices Initial Public Offering

SAN LEANDRO, Calif.-- Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII) announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 14,000,000 shares of its common stock at $8.50 per share. Of these shares, 8,078,566 were sold by ERI and 5,921,434 were sold by selling stockholders. The initial public offering valued the Company at about $400 million. Energy Recovery, Inc., a leading global developer and manufacturer of highly efficient energy recovery devices utilized in the water desalination industry, operates primarily in the sea water reverse osmosis, or SWRO, segment of the industry. Link. Chart.

VeraSun Energy Names Duane Gilliam Chairman

BROOKINGS, S.D., -- VeraSun Energy Corp. (NYSE: VSE), one of the nation's largest ethanol producers, announced today that Gordon Ommen has resigned as the Company's Chairman. Duane Gilliam will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors. He joined the board in 2005 and currently serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Link. Chart.