Abound Solar, a manufacturer of cadmium telluride (CdTe), thin-film photovoltaic solar modules, announced it closed a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund expansion of the company’s manufacturing capacity.
Abound will produce PV panels using an innovative process for depositing cadmium-telluride thin films onto glass panels. The company says the technology offers numerous improvements over existing manufacturing methods and reduces production costs. It also significantly reduces production-related greenhouse gas emissions compared to crystalline silicon panels.
Abound also announced it raised an additional $110 million in equity financing, bringing its equity financing to approximately $260 million since the company’s inception in 2007. Abound Solar’s existing investors, Invus Group, Bohemian Companies, DCM, and Technology Partners, participated in the equity round. They were joined by new investors BP Alternative Energy Ventures and West Hill Companies.
The debt and equity financings will enable Abound Solar to expand manufacturing capacity at both its existing facility in Colorado and later at a second site in Indiana, which when completed will create 1,200 solar manufacturing jobs.
When both plants are complete, Abound Solar will have capacity to produce more than 840 megawatts (MW) of solar modules annually. The company has already begun construction of a second manufacturing line at its Longmont, Colorado facility to increase production rates in 2011.
This marks the fifth clean energy Recovery Act project to close to date, for a total of $16.5 billion. Together, the 16 projects represent over 37 million megawatt-hours of capacity, enough clean energy to power 3.3 million homes.
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