SolFocus, Inc. has closed on $52 million (EUR 38 million) in funding. This included $27.4 million (EUR 20 million) in Series A financing for SolFocus Europe, and the balance as Series B financing for SolFocus, Inc. The financings, both led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), also include Moser Baer India, Ltd., David Gelbaum, Metasystem Group, NGEN Partners, Yellowstone Capital Inc., and others. SolFocus Europe is headquartered in Madrid, Spain and will serve the European market with CPV, tracker and thermal products.
SolFocus Europe operations will include business development, marketing, engineering, research and development activities, and with field operations, including the ISFOC (Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems) program. SolFocus, Inc. was selected as one of three ISFOC winners in October 2006. The ISFOC project is a 3MW installation of CPV technology in Castilla la Mancha, Spain.
SolFocus will also continue collaborative work with the Polytechnic University of Madrid and its Institute of Solar Energy (IES) in meeting technology challenges to further the proliferation of solar energy worldwide. SolFocus also recently acquired Inspira, S.L., a Madrid-based provider of solar trackers for the CPV and PV industries. According to SolFocus CEO Gary D. Conley, the company will base its tracker and solar thermal product development activities in Europe, while focusing on panel, optics, and cell technologies in the United States.
A pioneer in concentrator solar and the impetus behind Spain’s ISFOC, Dr. Antonio Luque of the Polytechnic University of Madrid sees SolFocus’ expansion into Europe as positive both for Europe and for the CPV industry: “After decades of solar cell research and development to achieve high solar efficiencies, I see strong promise in SolFocus’ ability to deliver high power output, while reducing costs. This is a critical step in bringing CPV to a global market.”
“Aggressive incentives in Europe, coupled with the efforts of visionaries such as Dr. Luque, have resulted in the rapid rise of Spain as a global solar technology hub, making it the ideal center for SolFocus Europe’s headquarters,” said Conley. “This funding provides us the means to form and operate a separate, fully operational entity which can better serve the European market’s demand for CPV systems, as well as trackers for CPV and conventional flat plate solar panels. SolFocus will also gain considerable solar DNA from the large and experienced solar labor pool in Europe.”
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