The leading company in the concentrator PV (CPV) systems has raised an additional $30.6 million in its Series C financing, bringing total investments in the round to $77.6 million, reportedly to be used for increasing its production volume.

Mountain View, California-based SolFocus announced the first close of the round in January this year when it raised $47 million, with the latest announcement being the close of the round.

Like in the first close, the second funding was led by Apex Venture Partner, a Chicago-based venture firm that invests in companies in the technology, software, IT infrastructure, and telecommunications sectors.

Demeter Partners and Advanced Equities became among SolFocus’ newest investors, while follow-on participants were New Enterprise Associates (NEA), NGEN, and Yellowstone Ventures. NEA, which invests in healthcare, IT, and energy technologies, led the A and B funding rounds for SolFocus.

The company said the amount raised will be used to support its ramp-up in production volume. The company said it plans to be able to ship 10 megawatts (MW) of its CPV products this year. It said it also plans to grow production capacity to 50 MW by 2011.

SolFocus has developed technologies for the complete solar system parts such as dual-axis trackers and solar panels, but its CPV system is its major selling point.

Its CPV power unit reflects sunlight using a set of mirrors to concentrate it at 500 “suns” on a high-efficiency solar cell. These developments allow it to reach as much as 38% efficiency using only one square centimeter of the expensive solar cell, using less of which is the goal.

In May, SolFocus announced being the first company to get an IEC standards certification. Currently, it is working on a CPV installation in Greece which is said to be Europe’s biggest.


- Eric Dorente

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Sources:

¹ http://www.solfocus.com/en/news-events/press-releases/2009-07-09.php