Siva Power Secures Series D Funding & Expert Advisor; Moves Forward with Plans to Build World's Most Advanced, Cost-competitive Solar Manufacturing Plant
$10M raised to begin building key component of its production technology
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Siva Power, a leader in advanced solar energy, today announced it has closed a Series D financing round, which along with other recent efforts has raised a total of $10 million in new capital for the California-based firm. The funding enables Siva to begin building a key production component and narrow down its site selection for where to establish the world's most cost-competitive manufacturing plant for highly efficient, low-cost solar panels. Siva is drawing on a brain trust of industry experts for its thin-film solar technology and announced that Bulent Basol, a globally recognized solar expert and pioneer, has joined its prestigious Technical Advisory Board.
The new investment includes converting $3 million in debt financing Siva received in May 2014 from four current investors — Trident Capital, DBL Investors, Medley Partners, and Acero Capital — and the city of Wuxi, China as a new investor. An additional $4 million is being committed by DBL, Medley, and Acero. This funding comes on top of Siva's recently announced $3 million award by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative, bringing Siva's total to $10 million in new capital, sufficient to initiate the next stages of its plan.
The new funding enables Siva to start building the world's highest capacity co-evaporation source, which is the unique technology that deposits the photovoltaic material onto the solar panel. Creating the highest-capacity source will enable Siva to construct the rest of its full-scale production line for a 300MW factory, which would also be the world's largest. When it is completed, Siva Power will be the first U.S. company to sustainably meet DOE's targets and also the least-expensive solar panel manufacturer worldwide. Siva is considering various locations —with California and other global sites on the short list — for establishing its 300MW factory, evaluating criteria including ease-of-manufacturing and favorability towards solar energy.
Siva Power estimates it can achieve a manufacturing cost of $0.40/watt when it begins operating its 300MW line, and less than $0.28/watt within two years, reaching a cost even lower than DOE's goal of $0.50/watt.
Siva also announced that Dr. Bulent Basol is joining Dr. Charlie Gay, Dr. Rommel Noufi, Mr. John Benner, and Dr. Markus Beck on its Technical Advisory Board. "I am honored to join such an experienced board," said Bulent. "I believe this is the most experienced and capable team ever assembled in one place for thin-film solar technology."
Dr. Basol has been an internationally recognized pioneer in thin-film PV for more than 30 years, with more than 160 patents and 100 publications. Bulent started his career in 1980 with Monosolar Inc., one of the first solar companies. He later co-founded both ISET and SoloPower, pioneering thin-film solar technologies. He most recently founded EncoreSolar, an integrated CdTe company driving to achieve less than $0.50/watt costs. "I have developed almost every type of thin-film solar technology over the last 30 years and now know that what Siva is driving at will not only achieve the lowest thin-film costs, but should surpass traditional crystalline silicon as well," Basol said.
Siva Power CEO Brad Mattson is thrilled to have another global thin-film expert join the team. "The addition of another technology expert like Bulent, plus this new capital financing, mark important milestones for Siva's forward momentum, moving us closer to building the solar industry's largest manufacturing facility," said Mattson. "We will need to raise more capital later to build out the rest of our factory, but this is an important confirmation that we are on the right track."
About Siva Power
Siva Power is a leader in advanced solar module and manufacturing technology and aims to be the world's best-in-class manufacturer of super-efficient, low-cost solar panels. Siva is developing a solar factory for the "gigawatt era" that will produce solar panels at unprecedented scale and the lowest production cost. For more information, visit www.sivapower.com.
SOURCE Siva Power
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