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Clean-Tech Show Draws Eager Investors

Companies of all sizes hope to cash in on growing market

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 9, 2007 3:15 PM CST

(Newser) – A clean technology conference hosted scores of venture capitalists and private-equity firms looking to cash in on 100 cutting-edge companies. Drawing particular interest was First Solar, which makes solar-energy cells that could soon compete with residential utility prices, MarketWatch reports. The company also signals the sector’s dangers: Its $200 stock is up from a year-old IPO price of $20—and some observers cry bubble.

Still, “this is an area where investors see big profits," said the conference host, Pacific Growth Equities. One analyst said the level of interest in smaller firms surprised him, including one company that uses a massive microwave oven to make coal cleaner by extracting moisture. Another presented solar-paneled tote bags that charge cameras and phones.

Engineer Dimtris Tollias checks the solar panels on top of a building in the southern Athens neighborhood of Faliron Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. Solar power and other forms of clean technology are gaining favor among investors. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Engineer Dimtris Tollias checks the solar panels on top of a building in the southern Athens neighborhood of Faliron Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. Solar power and other forms of clean technology are gaining...   (Associated Press)
An exterior view of the new First Solar plant in Frankfurt/Oder, eastern Germany, at the German-Polish border on Monday, July 9, 2007. U.S. producer First Solar opened the factory after investing 115 million euro (US$156 million). (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner)
An exterior view of the new First Solar plant in Frankfurt/Oder, eastern Germany, at the German-Polish border on Monday, July 9, 2007. U.S. producer First Solar opened the factory after investing 115...   (Associated Press)
California Gov, Arnold Schwarzenegger, left and Jeffrey Immelt, GE Chairman and Chief Executive walk thru a display past a model of a GE90-1158 aircraft engine at Universal Studios, Thursday, May 24, 2007, in Los Angeles. Following the tour Schwarzenegger and Immelt discussed clean technology and how financial and environmental performance...
California Gov, Arnold Schwarzenegger, left and Jeffrey Immelt, GE Chairman and Chief Executive walk thru a display past a model of a GE90-1158 aircraft engine at Universal Studios, Thursday, May 24,...   (Associated Press)
Bob Fagerstrom, manager of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, poses at the plant in Beulah, N.D., on March 28, 2007. The plant was once considered a white elephant and waste of taxpayers' money but now is hailed as pioneer of clean-coal technology. (AP Photo/James MacPherson)
Bob Fagerstrom, manager of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, poses at the plant in Beulah, N.D., on March 28, 2007. The plant was once considered a white elephant and waste of taxpayers' money but now...   (Associated Press)
USA. California. Santa Monica. Buses in Santa Monica no longer use diesel. They run on a mixture of electricity and liquid natural gas. Photovoltaic (PV) panels at the bus park provide elec (LON65962)
USA. California. Santa Monica. Buses in Santa Monica no longer use diesel. They run on a mixture of electricity and liquid natural gas. Photovoltaic (PV) panels at the bus park provide elec (LON65962)   (Magnum Photos)
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