On the GreenBeat: Tesla opens Fremont factory, SiOnyx raises $12.5 million

Here are the stories we’re following today on the GreenBeat:

Tesla has completed the $42 million purchase of a factory in Fremont previously owned by a Toyota and GM joint venture, the Wall Street Journal reports. CEO Elon Musk says the factory is key to Tesla’s future, but revamping the factory will be a big task — the company still needs to recruit and train 500 people, sign up suppliers and refit the facility with new equipment.

High-performance photovoltaics company SiOnyx announced they have raised $12.5 million in second-round financing. It uses a laser implant method called “black silicon” that increases performance of light-sensing devices.

Smart grid communications company Silver Springs  announced new products that mark a move into demand response, a hot (and getting hotter) segment of the smart grid.  Greentech Media notes this will allow Silver Springs to compete with power management companies like EnerNOC, Comverge and Opower, though the product is limited to customers that already use Silver Springs’ networked meters.

Energy management company Tendril and Lockheed Martin announced they have teamed up to integrate Lockheed’s demand response solution with Tendril’s platform.

Electric vehicles will have a four to five percent adoption rate by 2020, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be at five to six percent and hybrid electric vehicles will be at 20 percent, according to consulting company PRTM (via Greentech Media).

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