SOLAR POWER
Local solar panel developer combines with Dallas company
Bedford-based solar panel developer 1366 Technologies has combined with Hunt Perovskite Technologies from Dallas to form a new company called CubicPV. Frank van Mierlo, 1366′s chief executive, takes over as CEO of the new company, which will have offices in both cities. The merger joins 1366′s effort to manufacture cheaper silicon wafers with Hunt’s technology to use a new material called perovskite to make solar cells more efficient. As part of the deal, CubicPV is raising $25 million of new funding from investors including Hunt Energy Enterprises, First Solar, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The goal is to “dramatically boost the energy harvest and drive down costs of solar installations, helping to meet the world’s electrification and climate goals,” Michael Irwin, chief technology officer at CubicPV who held the same position at Hunt, said in a statement. — AARON PRESSMAN
INFRASTRUCTURE
Chamber urges Warren and Markey not to tie plan to broader spending package
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce is urging the state’s two senators, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, to throw their support behind an infrastructure plan and to stop linking it with a broader spending plan that Democrats in Washington want to pass. The chamber sent letters to Markey and Warren on Friday, asking them to support the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan under consideration in the Senate, in part because of the country’s infrastructure needs. Markey and Warren are among the prominent Democrats in Congress who have said they will not vote for the infrastructure proposal without a deal to pass the other one, nicknamed the “human infrastructure” proposal. Markey in particular cited the efforts to address climate change in that plan as a reason both should be finalized together. But Chamber chief executive Jim Rooney said he is concerned that infrastructure will be held up if they are linked. Rooney said an interview that the infrastructure plan represents a “big opportunity that should not be missed” and “Americans need a message from Washington that they can get the job done, that they can compromise, they can negotiate, and the divisiveness can stop.” The chamber does support many of the proposals in the Democrats’ spending plan, but wants to see the two issues resolved separately. — JON CHESTO
PHILANTHROPY
Ford Foundation to target the South
The Ford Foundation is increasing funding to not-for-profit and advocacy groups in the US South as the 85-year-old organization doles out the proceeds from its record bond sale last year. The foundation is using monies from its $1 billion bond deal in 2020 to give an additional $75 million to Southern organizations, according to a statement outlining the funding. The money will bring the foundation’s total giving in the region to more than $175 million since 2016. The Ford Foundation’s boost in giving comes after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a sweeping Republican-backed voting law that imposes new voter identification requirements, limits absentee balloting, and includes other restrictions that critics say make it disproportionately harder for Black people to vote. The move led the US Justice Department to sue the state over the restrictions. In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott backed a law that bars abortions at the onset of a fetal heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy and before many people know they are pregnant. In Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis barred transgender females from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes born as girls, a move echoed across red states that limits the rights of LGBTQ people. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
TECHNOLOGY
Apple asks for five-year extension on Galway data center project
Apple is seeking a five-year extension to its planning permit for an 850 million euro ($1 billion) data center development in Galway, western Ireland, the Business Post newspaper reported, citing planning documents. An extension would give the company until 2026 to construct the facility. Under current rules the tech giant has until September to build the development, the newspaper said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
AUTOMOTIVE
Honda to manufacture its own electric vehicles after all
Although General Motors will build Honda’s first two fully electric vehicles for North America, the Japanese automaker plans to change course and manufacture its own later this decade. Company officials say they’re developing their own EV architecture, and after two GM-made EVs go on sale in 2024, Honda will start building its own. Honda and GM have been partners on hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRADE SHOWS
Scaled-down wireless show opens in Barcelona
A major wireless technology trade fair kicked off in Barcelona on Monday with scaled-back attendance and beefed-up health and safety measures, changes that reflect the new reality for industry conventions in the post-pandemic era. Mobile World Congress was cancelled at the last minute last year because of COVID-19 concerns. Its 2021 revival makes it one of the few big trade shows to attempt a comeback even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to simmer in many parts of the world. Companies like Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, Sony, and Qualcomm are staying away while South Korea’s Samsung, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, is only holding a virtual device launch. Chinese tech giant Huawei, a major sponsor, is one the few big names that will have a show stand. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
INTERNATIONAL
Father and son sentenced for counterfeiting NY street wear
A London court has sentenced a father and son to years in jail for a sprawling copycat of clothing brand Supreme in what the judge called the most brazen counterfeiting operation he had ever seen. Michele Di Pierro, 53, was ordered to serve eight years and Marcello Di Pierro, 24, got three years after a private prosecution by the New York-based street wear company, which said the two went so far as to act as if they were the true owners of the brand. Michele’s UK-based International Brand Firm Ltd. was fined 7.5 million pounds ($10.4 million). The two “hijacked every facet of the company’s identity and plagiarized it,” Judge Martin Beddoe said Friday in London, after a jury found the pair guilty of two counts of fraud. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
LUXURY FASHION
Leader of Burberry headed to Ferragamo
Marco Gobbetti, who was tasked with turning Burberry into more of an upmarket luxury brand when he was appointed CEO in 2017, is quitting after five years in the role. Gobbetti, who had previously run brands including Céline and Givenchy, is leaving Burberry at the end of the year to become CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo in Italy. Burberry said Gobbetti had notified the board that he would be leaving “to take up another opportunity that will enable him to return to Italy and be closer to his family.” — NEW YORK TIMES