Bottom Line: In assessing a CPV technology you need to consider both the target applications and the completeness of their design concept for that application - does the team have the expertise to make it work? 

I don't often post news items, in fact I don't often post :-).  However, this is pretty interesting.  The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Worley Parsons, Australia's largest engineeering company, is planning to build 34 250 MW solar power stations.  You can read about it here.

It will be interesting to find out which technology they will use. The article says they would use "technology employed in the United States over the past 20 years" and build the plants by 2020.  Strictly interpreted, that limits the candidates to existing power tower and trough technologies.  It would not include home-town boy Ausra, who announced seperate discussions with Australian governments.

Bottom Line: US based solar thermal companies will be looking overseas to avoid the desert land grab in the US.  Look for more innovative technologies from Australia and other Asia-Pacific countries coming to the US for capital.

Here are some interesting statistics, courtesy of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. 

• The Bay Area is the world's fourth-most-important center for global business - after New York, London and Tokyo - as measured by the number of and revenues of Forbes Global 1000 companies.
• At $400 billion, the region's economy - if it were a nation - would be the world's 18th largest.
• Economic productivity is $122,000 per worker, 26% higher than the national average.
• 42 percent of the Bay Area's residents have college degrees.
• The region attracts 35 percent of all venture capital invested in the US (approx $10 billion).
• Very high venture capiltal invested per capita at $1,370, ahead of Singapore ($180), Israel ($117), New York ($107), Sweden ($101) and UK ($35).
• Bay Area universities attract 6% of national academic research funding (approx $2.5 billion).
• Foreign investment in the region grew 67 percent from 2002 to 2006.

The report calls for action to address some of the downside: a high cost of doing business, expensive housing, congested traffic (they should try Sydney), and a stressed education system. The report provides a lot more detail in comparison to other major world regional centres.

Interestingly, the high cost of doing business seems related mainly to salary and "benefits", i.e. payroll tax, health insurance, pension, and miscellaneous employee incentives. So partly that high productivity is being shared around, but also health costs (the US is almost double that of other developed nations as a % of GDP) must play a part.

Bottom Line: A great snapshot of the Bay Area, but read the report rather than the press summaries to get the real details.

Many people outside the US have been asking me: Is the US economy really that bad? What does that mean for early stage companies?

From outside the US, the sensationalist, and not so sensationalist, media reports have relentlessly painted a grim picture of the US economy.  While commentators have been calling a recession for a long time, official stats have not yet reported the requisite two quarters of contraction. Although the Fed Chairman did warn of a possible "R" today.

The optimists are saying that the the damage is contained to finance and real estate, while growth in the rest of the world will soften the blow. Pessimists say the flow through to consumer spending will drag down the whole economy.

What is the impact on early stage companies? My reading of the mood is that, unless you are looking for a IPO or trying to raise debt, then stay on course but be disciplined. VentureBeat has a post that pulls together a variety of sources here.

Bottom Line: Glass half-full? Glass half-empty?

The early stage technology industry in Australia and New Zealand looks strong judging from the more than 500 attendees at the ANZA/Southern Cross Venture Partners "Success in the US" tour of Australia and New Zealand in March.  See more details here.

I was in Australia at the same time for the Australasian Cleantech Forum, so I could not attend the ANZA event. Nonetheless, I can report that my two weeks in Australia confirmed the level of innovation and desire to take on global markets.

I hope to see plenty of Aussie and Kiwi entrepreneurs heading to Silicon Valley soon.