French oil company Total (NYSE:TOT) announced Monday it is investing $45 million for a stake in Massachusetts-based solar cell maker Konarka.
Total Gas & Power USA (SAS) recently underwrote a share issue for Konarka, making the company the first shareholder with a significant interest in the Konarka–slightly less than 20%.
Co-founded in 2001 by Howard Berke and Alan Heeger, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry for his work on conductive polymers, Konarka is a U.S. startup actively developing what it calls "third-generation" organic photovoltaic technology (OPV).
Konarka develops and manufactures solar plastic films that convert
light to energy. The company’s Power Plastic® technology is
said to be lightweight, flexible, scalable and adaptable for use in a variety of
commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications.
Konarka
Technologies is headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, and has
a full-scale production manufacturing facility in New Bedford,
Massachusetts, as well as European headquarters in Nuremberg,
Germany, business development offices in Asia and a research and
development facility in Austria.
"This investment positions Total strategically to secure the future of solar energy, while expanding its technological portfolio," Philippe Boisseau, President of Total Gas & Power, said.
Total is already present in crystalline silicon-based solar cell production through its interest in Photovoltech (47.8% ownership) and Tenesol (50% ownership). The company is moving into the thin film segment with the investment in Konarka.
In late 2007, Total acquired a 25% interest in Swiss-based Novacis, which conducts thin film photovoltaic cell R&D.
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