Ausra is one of the prime examples of solar companies that have had to turn to equipment sales in lieu of building power generation facilities due to the economic downturn. Late last year, its plan was to build several utility-scale plants in the southwestern U.S. But that roadmap was put on hold at the end of January when it became clear that the company wouldn’t be able to raise enough capital to finance the projects, which would have cost upwards of $1 billion. On top of that, in December Ausra trimmed a dozen employees from its staff to better weather the climate, and shifted its focus to sales of its concentrated solar equipment.
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The company manufactures all of its products domestically in Las Vegas, Nev., and says it produces enough equipment to generate more than 700 megawatts of power every year. It last raised funds in October, bringing in $60.6 million from Kern Partners, Generation Investment Management, Starfish Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. That might seem like a good chunk of change, but it doesn’t approach the amount of capital needed to construct the larger plants Ausra had in the works before it hit the skids.
The most recent round of financing came from all of its previous backers.
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