Thursday, October 01, 2009 at 12:57:04 PM - by Danny Vo

The solar energy industry remains poised for solid growth in the coming years in light of new data showing that venture capitalists continue to make substantial investments in it.

New figures from the Cleantech Group show that that in the third quarter of 2009, venture investment in clean technology companies continued to grow worldwide to $1.59 billion across 134 different companies.

"The billions in government funding being allocated globally in clean technology have begun emboldening private capital, which has in turn helped propel clean technology to the leading venture investment sector, now eclipsing biotech and IT," said Dallas Kachan of the Cleantech Group.

The group noted that venture investments in solar and related technologies had declined significantly in the first quarter of 2009 and fourth quarter of 2008, while showing a modest improvement in the second quarter.

The report also cited the solar energy industry as leading the way in overall clean technology investments, with $451 million - although this was still said to remain lower than the high of $1.2 billion invested in the third quarter of 2008.