Solar power startup SolarReserve Inc., which claims to have developed a way to store solar energy so it can be tapped as needed, has raised $140 million in a Series B funding, which it will put toward an aggressive project development plan to advance more than 50 power plant projects currently in the works around the world.
The Santa Monica, Calif., company is the latest in a series of solar power companies to receive VC money amid a surge of interest in alternative power. It says one critical factor that sets it apart from the others is its "molten salt power tower" technology, which stores thermal energy in molten salt and converts it into electricity as needed. The technology was developed by Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. [UTX]. SolarReserve, which was formed by the private equity firm U.S. Renewables Group, holds the exclusive worldwide license to build power plants based on this technology.
The latest funding round was led by Citi Alternative Investments' renewable energy private equity group, along with Sustainable Development Investments and Good Energies. Other investors include U.S. Renewables Group, the PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund, Nimes Capital LLC and Credit Suisse Group. The company did not disclose how much it raised in its Series A round.
If $140 million sounds like a hefty funding package, consider the company's ambitious plans to build 50 power plants around the world. SolarReserve's founder and president Terry Murphy said it was the amount that "made sense to put us on solid footing," but stressed it would all go toward project development. The company plans to use debt financing to fund actual power plant construction, and Murphy says it hopes to break ground on its first plant by the end of next year and have at least one plant up and running by 2013. - Andrea Orr
See Sept. 16 funding announcement from SolarReserve
See Aug. 28 post on solar startup fundings from Tech Confidential
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