Petra Solar has raised $40 million in funding for expansion. Two new investors, Craton Equity Partners and Espírito Santo Ventures, led the latest round with 100% participation from existing investors, Element Partners, Blue Run Ventures, OnPoint Technologies (U.S. Army’s Venture Fund) and Kuwait’s National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC).

UK-based MPI and A2SEA, a Danish company, have been selected to supply construction vessels for the first phase of the London Array wind farm being built by a consortium of E.ON, DONG Energy and Masdar.

POET Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers will outline POET’s process for commercialization of cellulosic ethanol and a vision for the future of ethanol this week at the F.O. Licht’s 3rd Annual Developing and Commercialising Next Generation Biofuels conference in London.

Radio Waves, Inc., The Leader in Microwave Antenna InnovationTM, announced a new line of SP microwave antennas called the SPX-1.8NS series which covers from 1.7 – 1.9 GHz. These antennas cover a number of services including the Canadian smart grid network band of 1800 – 1830 MHz and the U.S. federal government band of 1755 – 1850 MHz. The frequency range of 1.7 – 1.9 GHz also covers some international bands utilized for public safety and other government applications in certain countries. The new SPX-1.8NS series of microwave dishes is available in all sizes from 1 foot to 8 feet in diameter.

Technology available today can be employed to create viable, sustainable, smart cities. That will be the message that Bob Gilligan, vice president—transmission and distribution for GE Energy Services, will deliver to delegates at the Chatham House conference, “The Future of Cities.”

Landis+Gyr, the leading global supplier of smart meters and energy management solutions, continues to expand its leadership position in the Polish market having recently signed a contract with ENION, the second largest electricity distributor in Poland, for its residential and ICG metering applications, further strengthening relations between the two leading companies.

The next step in smart energy is the development of eco-towns, environmentally-friendly communities built to leave a minimal carbon footprint. This week, UK Housing Minister John Healey is expected to announce the start of construction on 100 eco-show homes fitted with smart meters, electric car charging points, solar-heated water tanks and water-saving and composting systems to demonstrate a green lifestyle of the near future.

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BEDFORD, MA – February 1, 2010 – Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing capital equipment and turnkey lines to manufacture photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, announced its 30MW per year turnkey solar cell line has been accepted by Hanwha Chemical Corporation Ltd. of South Korea (Hanwha). The line exceeded both its efficiency and throughput specifications producing 15.8% efficient multi-crystalline silicon solar cells at the rate of more than 34MW per year.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. announced the introduction of Eclipse, a new line of PV cells and modules with reduced light induced degradation (LID). The largest percentage of degradation of PV modules occurs during the first day of sun exposure.

A new study released by Navigant Consulting finads that a 25% by 2025 national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) would support hundreds of thousands of new American jobs and prevent a near-term collapse in some industries. Job growth in the wind, solar, biomass, waste-to-energy and hydropower industries would particularly benefit the Southeastern U.S. and manufacturing states whose Congressional delegations have had a history of voting against incentives and other measures designed to support the renewable energy sector.