Google offers $20M for first private mission to moon
Google is funding the Lunar X Prize, a competition that will award $20 million to the first team that lands a private unmanned spacecraft on the moon, and then broadcasts a high-definition video back to earth. Additionally, it will award two other $5 million prizes for lesser missions.
Watch the video above (RSS readers click here), where Google explains how one day the moon’s silicon soil could be used to create large solar satellites, which in… Continue Reading
Greentech roundup: Phoenix Motorcars, Lockyer’s $3.5B solar plan, Photowatt and more
Here’s the latest action in green technology (updated):
Phoenix Motorcars, latest electric vehicle company — The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., company makes electric SUVs and SUTs that can get 130 miles from a 10-minute charge, and is close to signing a $15 million first round of capital from investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Virgin Fuels and AES Corporation, according to PEHub. The vehicle’s top speed is 95mph, with an expected retail price of $45k . Consumer sales… Continue Reading
Signet Solar Enters Crowded Solar Field
A team of semiconductor industry veterans today announced the launch of Signet Solar, a solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer that hopes to disrupt the fast growing solar industry by significantly reducing the manufacturing costs of solar panels.
The company will target large projects such as solar farms, commercial installations, building-integrated photovoltaics, and remote habitation.
The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., although its R&D operations and first manufacturing plant will be based in Dresden,… Continue Reading