As we look toward the next year, the cleantech sector faces many challenges, which we examine in detail in this 2012 outlook. Renewable energy generators encounter an increasingly difficult subsidy environment, and key cleantech innovations like electric vehicles face an uphill climb in terms of connecting with a larger market. The effort to build cleaner data centers continues. Meanwhile, low-power chips will get a shot at creating further energy savings at the server level. There remains, however, something of a silver lining, with companies like Nest poised to innovate in the home energy management space and Silver Spring Network’s potentially successful IPO offering a shot in the arm for the smart grid. Additional companies mentioned in this report include ARM, Calxeda, Getaround and Solyndra. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial.