Venture capital (VC) funding in the solar sector was off to a great start for Q1 2011, coming in at $658 million in 25 deals, compared to $238 million in the previous quarter and $311 million in the first quarter of last year. The trend was similar with M&A activity amounting to $1.4 billion in 18 transactions for Q1 2011, compared to $266 million in Q4 2010 and $909 million in Q1 2010. Debt and other types of funding activities came in at $9.7 billion for the quarter with 15 deals.