If you go to Germany during Spargelzeit -- “asparagus time” -- you will experience the amazing intensity with which Germans can focus on a good thing.

In recent years, energy conservation has probably received more attention from the Germans than white asparagus. A report in the New York Times suggested last week that Americans may be about to benefit.

Former CFO to become Chief Strategy Officer

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., (Nasdaq: JASO), a manufacturer of high-performance solar products, today announced the appointment of Ms. Anthea Chung as the company's new chief financial officer. She replaces Daniel Lui, who will become the company's new chief strategy officer, responsible for pursuing strategic business opportunities worldwide.

Les Fritzemeier heads up a tiny solar-energy start-up that most people have never heard of, Wakonda Technologies. But rather than worry about being steamrolled by the sliding economy, he feels like he's in a great spot.

"In a lot of respects, the best time to start a company is in the middle of a recession, assuming you've got money," he said. "Our target is to go to market when most people expect the economy to turn around."

Toyota is developing a solar-powered Prius, the Nikkei newspaper has reported yet again.

It was interesting when we heard about this in July.

But it seems to us that someone over at Toyota has now been fake-leaking/hinting news about a solar-powered Prius in one form or another for at least the last year.

This wonder-car-in-the-making has gone from being a Toyota Prius that uses solar roof panels from Kyocera to power its air conditioning unit, to "a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy" to quote one recent Associated Press article.

Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car, a top business daily reported Thursday.

The Nikkei newspaper, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota's offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment.

Green technology was hot in 2008. Barack Obama won the presidential election promising green jobs to Rust Belt workers. Investors poured $5 billion into the sector just through the first nine months of the year. And even Texas oilmen like T. Boone Pickens started pushing alternative energy as a replacement for fossil fuels like petroleum, coal and natural gas.

Woo Sug Baik, President and CEO of DC Chemical Co., Ltd. announced today that the Board of Directors approved on December 31, 2008 the sale of the Company's entire 66.75% stake in Columbian Chemicals Company to One Equity Partners, a private equity fund that has been a JV partner to DC Chemical since its original investment in March 2006. The parties executed a definitive agreement on December 31, 2008, and the transaction is expected to be completed during the 1st Quarter of 2009, subject to regulatory approval.

In retrospect, the timing could have been better.

Elon Musk's electric sports car company, Tesla Motors, said in September that it would build a factory in San Jose to produce its new sedan. It was a milestone for both the business and the green-tech industry on which Silicon Valley has pinned so many of its hopes.

Unfortunately, the announcement landed in the midst of a firestorm burning through the financial world.

The Southern California desert could produce a gusher of renewable energy.

Strong sunlight bathes its open plains, even in winter. Powerful winds stream through its mountain passes. Fractures in the earth along the San Andreas Fault heat pools of underground water - the perfect fuel for geothermal power plants.

There is, however, a problem. Most Californians don't live there.

Solar Millennium AG (ISIN DE0007218406) will be publishing the preliminary results of its 2007/2008 fiscal year at the end of January 2009. This change in timing on publication, which was originally planned for December 2008, is due to pending board approvals on selling shares of the Andasol power plants to a solar fund.