Concentrated photovoltaic solar power company Amonix has this week announced that it has raised $129.4m (£84m) in series B funding, and will now use the injection of capital to rapidly expand its manufacturing capacity.
The funding round, which marks one of the largest venture capital clean tech investments of the year so far, was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and follows a $25m series A funding round from Goldman Sachs and MissionPoint Capital. MissionPoint joined the latest round, which also featured some of the leading clean tech investors in the US, including Adams Street Partners, the Angeleno Group, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, Vedanta Capital, New Silk Route and The Westly Group.
Amonix said it will use the money to accelerate the development of its concentrated solar technology, which uses optics to focus the sun's rays onto smaller photovoltaic cells. The system features multi-junction solar cell technology originally developed for the space industry as an alternative to traditional monocrystalline photovoltaic cells. These cells use three different photovoltaic materials in a single cell to extract more energy from the different wavelengths in the sunlight.
The company claims it can reach conversion efficiencies of 39 per cent in volume production, and can optimise the operational efficiency of its units by placing them on trackers that follow the sun.
In addition to the private funding, Amonix has also landed $15.6m in grant money from the Department of Energy Solar America Initiative, along with $9.5m in stimulus funding and is now well placed to build out its manufacturing capacity.
Another company claiming high levels of conversion efficiency for its solar panels was also in the news this week, as Reuters reported that SunPower has chosen California as the location for its new US manufacturing plant. The company, which claims efficiencies of nearly 20 per cent on its solar panels, is scheduled to make an official announcement today. It reportedly chose California over Arizona and Florida, which were also said to be in the running as sites for the plant, along with Mexico and Texas.
The news comes just a month after SunPower secured a major deal with Southern California Edison that will see it provide up to 80 per cent of the capacity for a planned 200 MW utility solar project.
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