Enough to power about 140000 homes in Golden State

If someone is convinced that one day Silicon Valley will be renamed "solar valley", it is John Doerr. This is already several years that this famous local financial... repeat and acts accordingly. Almost all investments which he made four years for his venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer, are for the benefit of firms in clean technologies ("clean tech"), particularly in renewable energy. At least, its visionary capabilities are hardly questionable: he is discovered, and funded by first, Netscape, Amazon, Google and other...

It now reserves its favours to solar start-up as Ausra (who has just acquired by Areva) or MiaSolé, considered one of the most promising of the Silicon Valley in its sector. "The"clean tech"are the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century," he repeats forever, considering that the world market of new energy will soon top of the Internet itself.

Race to innovation

Silicon Valley did not wait the election of Barack Obama, which was renewable energy and sustainable development one of the priorities of his mandate, to launch the assault of solar energy. Indeed, the American President does not hide that he forged his convictions in this area largely through a series of travel in Northern California, during which patterns of business technology, investors and local elected officials have convinced him of the importance of the issues. A good "investment" to Silicon Valley, because it is the first today to benefit from public funding allocated to these new energies.

If the commitment of the region for solar is already old, it is however not completely independent of the political calendar. In fact, while he loops his second term of Governor of California, the main assets of the balance sheet of Arnold Schwarzenegger is indeed his action for renewable energy. In particular, program which provides the installation of 1 million solar roofs in California, which are spent $ 3 billion, credit of taxes and tax benefits.

If Silicon Valley wants to turn into "solar valley", is first with its own forces. At the base of the solar panels are semiconductors, to which the region must its position as world leader in information technology. The best example of this obvious synergy is provided by the Applied Materials, which manufactures equipment for designing electronic chips. Now, three years after be entered this market, its equipment dedicated to semiconductor solar use represent more than 1 billion, or 20 of its turnover.

Great discretion

Difficult to know exactly how many solar start-ups are installed in Silicon Valley, because many of them choose to remain discrete during the early years, used to develop their new technologies. However, according to concordant estimates, solar start-up 100 entered in 2008, most often with the support of experienced investors. These newcomers did not shade to those that already existed: this year, Nanosolar, HélioVolt, MiaSolé or SoloPower have each received at least 100 million in funding...

In any event, some need more venture capital for a long time. This is the case of SunPower, a start-up relaunched by a veteran of the semiconductor industry, t. j. Rodgers. While in 2004 this start-up realized that 11 million of turnover, it is now listed on New York and should achieve 2 billion in revenues this year (1.4 billion last year). A meteoric growth it due to a unusual strategic positioning. "Unlike many other players, we are present on the chain of solar power, design, to final production, and in all markets of simple control panel for the individual production of large capacity units", summarizes Julie Blender, Vice President of SunPower. The key to its success lies in its technology: SunPower boasts today to propose one of the highest rates of electricity generated from the energy recovered by its panels (about 25).

Support of the Government

So far for SunPower as for others, the account is not yet: the chain quickly cease if it it was not backed directly and by public financing - indirectly as its European and Asian rivals. Already supported by Google, very committed to renewable energy, the start-up BrightSource has thus enjoy a financial accelerator of the US Government: it has to guarantee loans $ 1.4 billion to finance the development of a large production unit in the middle of the Mojave Desert, California. Enough to power about 140,000 homes in Golden State...

If this provision underlines how America supports its technology firms, in particular the jewels from Silicon Valley, their leaders are not less worried. "Is no mistake, our real competitors in the long term are the Chinese." The Chinese Government is able to finance 100 the cost of a solar plant and this cost is therefore not in the accounts of companies when they must amortize such investments. "Us if", summarizes Kamel Ounadjela, co-founder of Calisolar. His colleagues at the California solar energy are the same observation and consider that innovation alone will enable them to further lower production costs and therefore to remain competitive with the formidable die solar Chinese which is in place. "The Chinese State is ready to finance all its industrial infrastructure for them to save the new green industrial revolution which is committed", confirmed recently in San Francisco, at a Conference on sustainable development, Ken Dewoskin, Deloitte China, located on place for many years.