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UMG U-Turn

UMG Purification. Photo Courtesy of Calisolar. Polysilicon prices are on the rise again in the solar PV industry, and metallurgically purified polysilicon (UMG) is back in the news. This time, however, UMG is generating interest for strategic market access rather than supply diversification. Download PDF (right-click, save-as) PHOTON Magazine: UMG U-Turn Originally Published in PHOTON International, November 2010. Provided with...

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The Cleantech Pillars: Process

Game-changing Pillars. The need to stay market focused in technology development and get products quickly into customer hands translates to the Pillar of Process. Market requirements, corporate direction and technology options can all change quickly and must be tightly integrated with the development Process. For a new venture, the ability to predict market conditions is limited at best. Thus, rapid new product and process development...

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The Cleantech Pillars: Phase

Cleantech is not a singular industry. There are many industries that have Cleantech opportunities. The maturity of the specific Cleantech target industry, its Phase, can have a powerful influence on Cleantech business success.        While Phase issues do exist in other industries, Phase challenges in Cleantech targets are considerably more pronounced. Target industry Phase should be considered in market selection, business...

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The Cleantech Pillars: Policy

Hoover Dam Relies on Four Pillars Government influence is fundamental in Cleantech  Public Policy has multiple direct and enabling influences in virtually all Cleantech sectors.  So What?  Where Cleantech is inextricably bound to Policy, the Information Age saw strong opposition to government subsidies and industry support. TJ Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, for example, provided the following 1993 Congressional...

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The Cleantech Pillars: Plant

Sienna Cathedral Leverages Four Pillar Framework The Cleantech Pillars framework is a new assessment tool for Cleantech ventures.  The four Pillars represent the generic contextual hurdles within Cleantech. These are the factors that differentiate Cleantech opportunities from more conventional technology ventures. The four Cleantech Pillars are Plant, Process, Phase and Policy. Plant and Process cycle are internally oriented business...

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Introducing a New Cleantech Assessment Framework

Cleantech is widely anticipated to be the next big wealth creation opportunity.      Oddly, however, success in Cleantech business investments has been somewhat elusive especially in the venture capital (VC) community. This paradox is true even though Cleantech has had the strong support of a mature VC industry along with motivated equity markets – albeit impacted by the Financial Crisis and global recession.    Cleantech Pillars...

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