Company Spotlight
Miasol  Several solar startups with innovative new technologies, including Nanosolar and Konarka, have recently received venture-capital funding. Miasolis looking to make solar power cost-effective by using thin-film manufacturing techniques, avoiding the expensive processing that silicon-based solar cells require.

Miasol enjoys great buzz thanks to a $16 million investment from the superstar VC firm Kleiner, Perkins. However, its competitor Nanosolar has also recently raised $20 million. It remains to be seen whether these new types of solar cells are generating investments based on the general promise of cleaner energy or whether they are commercially feasible technologies able to compete with existing and well-entrenched silicon-based photovoltaics.