TORONTO, May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Morgan Solar Inc. has closed USD $16.5 million in the first tranche of its Series B funding round to ramp up manufacturing and deployment of its Sun Simba concentrated photovoltaic module.

The Sun Simba, based on Morgan Solar's unique, patented Light-guide Solar Optic, is an ultra-thin, lightweight module that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.  This revolutionary module forms the building block of Morgan Solar's turnkey photovoltaic system, which offers significantly lower costs, and higher performance, than other photovoltaic systems on the market today.

The first tranche of funding represents the bulk of Morgan Solar's Series B round. Participants in the Round include existing investors Inversiones Financieras Perseo, of the Iberdrola Group, and Nypro Inc. Iberdrola is Spain's leading energy group and the world's largest renewable energy company; Nypro Inc. is a USD $1.1 billion global contract manufacturer specializing in precision injection moulding. New investors include The Frost Group, LLC, a private investment firm based in Miami, Florida. The Frost Group is led by Dr. Phillip Frost, and since its formation in October 2006 has invested in various companies and technologies in the United States and abroad. Morgan Solar is in discussions with strategic investors to close the remainder of the Round.

"The Morgan Solar approach to CPV provides, for the first time, an opportunity to deliver grid-competitive LCOEs without subsidies, across global markets," says Asif Ansari, CEO of Morgan Solar. "Now - not five years from now - the Sun Simba generates extremely compelling project rates of return."

This year, Morgan Solar will complete a number of significant demonstration sites in Ontario and the United States. With this funding and the company's USD $3.3 million loan from the California Energy Commission, Morgan Solar will establish a manufacturing facility in San Diego, California. The company will also ramp up its existing manufacturing and R&D footprint in Ontario to continue to develop and bring to market next generation, low cost solar technologies.

About Morgan Solar

Toronto-based Morgan Solar Inc. was founded in 2007 to develop next generation solar power technologies that will make solar energy significantly less expensive. Morgan Solar has developed the Sun Simba High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV), a highly efficient, low cost, robust concentrating solar module. With the Sun Simba, Morgan Solar has a clear path to achieve grid parity across utility-scale markets. The company will offer turnkey solar projects, initially focusing on ground-mounted installations. Morgan Solar has five other patent-pending photovoltaic products in the pipeline, all based on its approach of combining highly innovative non-imaging optics with well-established manufacturing processes.

SOURCE Morgan Solar, Inc.

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