There's a fascinating conference taking place in San Francisco today and tomorrow: The Pacific Growth Equities Clean Technology and Industrial Growth confab. It falls right in the middle of our "Green is Universal" special week-long coverage and the timing couldn't be better. A who's who of public and private players in clean tech.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with Matthew Foster, the CEO of Ascent Solar . He's in from the company's headquarters in Denver. You'll remember thatI wrote briefly about his company following our coverage Nanosolar: the upstart San Jose solar company that's attracted over $100 million in venture funding because of its unique "spray-on" printing process for a new breed of flexible solar panels.
Ascent is an intriguing play. I never make stock recommendations, and won't begin now. Especially for a newcomer in a new sector that, pardon the pun, is so white-hot right now. So keep that in mind. Public for about 17 months, the company grew out of decades-old technology that got its start at Martin-Marietta.
Foster is a jovial fellow who stopped by our live-shot location complete with visual aids and samples of his company's flexible solar panels. These aren't the rigid, fragile, glass panels we're all familiar with; but a flexible material that prints out on massive rolls 2,000 feet thick. The material can be rolled out on roof tops, incorporated into roof tiles. When I suggested they could be perfect for "solar louvers," or building blinds, Foster thought that sounded like a nifty idea.