Top Clean-Tech Employers

Photo Credit: Suntech Power Green jobs have become a hot topic this year, but it's not always clear what exactly that means. Here's one measure. Research firm Clean Edgehas determined the ten publicly traded, clean-tech companies with the most employees. (The data are based on second quarter 2009 financial filings or the most recent annual report.) Most of the companies are based out of the U.S. but have a presence in the country. Click on to see which companies ranked on top. Posted Nov. 4, 2009

Photo Credit: SunPower Headquarters: San Jose, Calif. Employees: 5,400 SunPower’s high-efficiency solar panels grace the roofs of homes and businesses around the world .

Photo Credit: Kingspan Group Headquarters: Kingscourt, Ireland Employees: 5,500 Kingspan manufactures materials used in making more energy efficient buildings.

Photo Credit: Gamesa Headquarters: Victoria, Spain Employees: 7,200 With wind turbine manufacturing facilities in Europe, China and the U.S., Gamesa installed the equivalent of 16,000 megawatts of wind power in 2008.

Photo Credit: Baldor Electric Headquarters: Fort Smith, Ark. Employees: 7,800 Among other things, Arkansas-based Baldor Electric manufactures energy efficient electric motors.

Photo Credit: China BAK Battery Headquarters: Shenzhen, China Employees: 8,200 China BAK manufactures lithium-based battery cells that are used in rechargeable batteries for products like cell phones and laptops.

Photo Credit: Itron Headquarters: Liberty Lake, Wash. Employees: 8, 700 The company makes smart electricity, gas, water and heat meters that deliver and monitor energy and water use more efficiently.

Photo Credit: Suntech Headquarters: Wuxi, China Employees: 9,000 The solar module producer has offices in China, Switzerland and in San Francisco.

Headquarters: Naperville, Ill. Employees: 11,700 Nalco is a water treatment and process improvement company that helps its customers reduce water use.

Photo Credit: AP Headquarters: Xinyu, China Employees: 14,100 The Chinese company makes multicrystalline solar—a component used to make solar cells—which it sells to solar module and cell manufacturers. The company has an office in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Headquarters: Randers, Denmark Employees: 21,100 The Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer also has facilities in Texas, Colorado and Oregon.