25 Green Startups Changing the Way We Do Business

A commitment to sustainability is becoming an increasingly important part of modern business operating models, as consumers demand products and services that are not only high-quality but that also reduce their impact on the environment.

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Recurrent Energy Continues US Hires Despite Trouble at Parent Sharp

Sharp Corp, deeply in the red, has recently announced that it will cut almost 11,000 jobs (or 18% of its workforce) around the World, and sell many assets. The asset sale may include Recurrent Energy that it bought in 2010 for $305 Million.

Rumor has it that Sharp hopes to get $312 Million for Recurrent Energy, a US solar farm developer. Recurrent is itself in good financial shape, with almost $2 billion in project finance commitments from third parties, according to Recurrent's CEO, Arno Harris.

"We continue to meet and exceed our business goals as we build out our contracted project portfolio," Harris said. The company has "excellent and long-standing relationships with the major financial institutions engaged in the energy sector," Harris added.

He expects the company to attract the interest of other financial sponsors in the event that Sharp drops out or reduces its stake. Troubles at parent companies often lead to the sale of well-performing assets, to extract a good price for them.

Recurrent seems to be one of these well-performing assets, as its CEO affirmed. It continues to hire for US-based positions, and has currently 12 open positions, including 9 posted in Sept. 2012.

Several Green Companies on a Hiring Spree

Significant increase in the number of new green jobs indexed by TheGreenJobBank shows the resilience of the green economy.

Last week saw an unusual increase in the number of green jobs indexed by TheGreenJobBank. Even in a period of economic uncertainty, a number of green employers have added many new positions, proof that the green economy is more resilient than many others.

• Energy Management company EnerNOC is one of them. They've added 19 new open positions this week alone, to bring the total to 61.

  These new jobs are in a wide variety of occupations, including sales, marketing, software development and administrative/management.

• Environmental company AECOM has added 20 jobs, for a total of 65.

  New green jobs at AECOM include Air Quality Scientists, Environmental Engineers, and waste/water treatment technicians.

• Another environmental company, Environmental Resources Management (ERM) added over 30 jobs last week, bringing the total open positions to 172!

• And of course, our darling green employer, SolarCity added a stellar 64 jobs this week alone, and 14 last week, bringing its total to 129!

  21 of its open positions are solar site auditors. As described by SolarCity, "The Site Auditor will provide professional site auditing services to obtain and communicate the necessary technical data to the SolarCity design team for the preparation of permit ready documents needed to facilitate the installation of solar photovoltaic systems. This person will also function as a project manager, field technician, and permit technician when assigned to do so."

  And it's not a surprise that SolarCity has also many openings for sales reps and solar PV installers.

• Although not at the top of the list for its total open jobs (50), highly respected The Nature Conservancy added over 30 jobs last week, which is remarkable for a non-profit organization.

Even though it's not as high as the number of weekly new jobs we saw in January and February (between 2,000 and 2,300 per week), last week's number of 1,722 is a good number in an economy that has regrettably slowed down in the past few months. However, it is somehow reassuring to see the companies listed above are on a hiring spree, in various segments of the green industry.

SunPower Signs PPA with PG&E, Creates 200 Green Jobs

SunPower Corp has just signed a PPA with PG&E to deliver 100 MW of solar energy to California, creating 200 green jobs.

SunPower Corp has just signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to deliver the power generated by the Henrietta solar farm in Kings County to the state of California.

According to SunPower Corp, the project will create 200 construction jobs, and inject $72.7 million in the local economy. SunPower Corp has not disclosed how many permanent jobs will be created to operate and maintain the solar farm when it goes online.

The project, when completed will deliver 100 MW of electricity, enough to power an estimated 36,000 average homes.  The solar farm will be built with SunPower's latest solar technology that can rotate the solar panels to follow the sun, which increases efficiency by 25%.

"We are very pleased to be working again with PG&E to deliver cost-competitive solar power at a 100MW scale, while creating jobs and economic opportunity for the local community," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions.

Still, the project is not a sure thing. It is contingent on approval by the California Public Utilities Commission and SunPower's ability to complete all applicable permits. It is expected that construction will begin in 2015, with the plant beginning commercial operation by late 2016.

SunPower Corp has currently 41 open green jobs.