The Nevada Company Ormat Technologies announced that Ormat Subsidiaries Ltd., its Israeli subsidiary, entered into a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with Sunday Energy Ltd. Sunday is a private Israeli energy company and the agreement will be to construct and operate solar-photovoltaic energy systems with a total capacity of 36 MW throughout Israel.

According to the JVA, Ormat will now own 70% of each special purpose entity (SPE) with Sunday contributing the rights to all of its property and roofs required to develop solar energy systems above 1 MW to SPE’s.

The agreement between Ormat and Sunday will have major effects throughout the industry. Sunday is a leading developer in the Israeli PV market while Ormat has over four decades of experience in the development, construction, financing and operation of hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy projects worldwide.

The estimated capital expenditure for 36 MW of solar power systems is

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Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Munich, Germany -- 1 April 2009 - "In 2010, PV will be by far the most cost-effective way of generating electricity. The solar PV market in California will explode once people discover that they can generate their own rooftop power for less than it costs from their utility," says Barry Cinnamon, long-term expert, CEO and founder of solar system integrator Akeena Solar in California.

On September 5th we reported that Silicon Valley, the major green booster, had retrenched by pulling out of long-term investments in alternative energy. Today, the other shoe dropped. The Cleantech Group in San Francisco reported that venture-capital investment in clean technology fell 35% in Q4 from the prior quarter, the steepest quarterly drop in two years.

Venture capitalists had infused $1.7 billion into the sector, the smallest amount in six quarters, according to Cleantech.

The implications of this reversal are truly profound.

Silicon Valley superstars have been touting green for the past two years. Boosters include Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel; Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google; John Doerr, perhaps the leading venture capitalist in the world; and just about every other venture capitalist within spitting distance of the fabled Sand Hill Road.

Silicon Valley really hit the brakes hard after a frothy third quarter.

Venture capital investment in cleantech hit a record $4.6

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Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: QTWW), a fully integrated alternative energy company, today released word its German solar photovoltaic partner, Asola, has signed a deal to establish a joint-venture manufacturing plant in South Korea. The partnership will allow the company to produce and distribute its German-designed solar modules in South Korea through Q&Tech/Yongsan Inc., a high-volume manufacturer of automotive components for the global automotive industry.

“I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with our partner in Korea,” Reinhard Wecker, the founder and CEO of Asola stated in the press release. “Our strategy is to associate with organizations that are established players in the solar industry or experienced high volume manufacturers of similar products. Our partner is already a trusted supplier to the automotive, telecommunication and electronics industries, and we are pleased to work with them.”

The facility will employ equipment, process and quality controls identical to

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