Tha Bay Area and Solar Technology

Venture Capitalists are betting on renewable energy start-ups. Will the Bay Area be the "Silicon Valley" of renewable energy? As a resident of the area, I certainly hope so. Think about all the potentially interesting jobs that will be available. From the SJ Mercury News:

There may have been doubts about it until now, but Silicon Valley is steadily gaining status as a leading center of innovation for green technologies -- especially solar.

Over the past year, we've reported all kinds of news about investments into clean technologies here. Today, there are two more encouraging announcements showing the moneybags on Sand Hill Road are taking this seriously.

First, Innovalight, a Santa Clara solar company, has announced it has raised an additional $7.5 million in venture financing from Harris & Harris, Apax Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds and Triton Ventures -- some of which have offices in Silicon Valley.

The start-up recently moved to Santa Clara from St. Paul, Minn., another sign that Silicon Valley is the place to be for the future of solar technology research. Nanosolar, Miasole and publicly traded SunPower are already here.

Meanwhile, Piper Jaffray has created the first fund to invest dollars solely into venture-capital firms that invest in clean technologies. It is called a ``fund of funds'' because it is a fund that is made up of investments into other funds.

VentureWire reports it is raising $50 million for the purpose, and it has already committed some of that money to venture firms in Silicon Valley/San Francisco, including DFJ Element, Expansion Capital Partners, Nth Power and VantagePoint Venture Partners.