Solaria snaps up $45M for high-efficiency solar modules

Concentrating solar got a big boost today, with solar module maker Solaria bagging $45 million in new venture funding. With funding shifting away from capital-intensive renewable energy products, this is a big win for the company, which aims to lower panel price tags by cutting down on silicon requirements.

Solaria sets itself apart from its peers, including larger players First Solar and SunPower, with its module architecture. Each is equipped with its own optical concentrator that allow it to absorb more than two times the amount of sun it would otherwise. This ups the output of power by as much as 30 percent, even though the amount of silicon used is literally halved.

This sounds all well and good — and it’s definitely riding a relevant trend toward less silicon use. After all, that’s why companies like NanoSolar, Innovalight and Solyndra are all working on their own thin-film and printed solar cell solutions. But silicon prices aren’t as prohibitive as they used to be, and are even falling steadily, which has reduced the urgency for this type of technology. This makes Solaria’s recent funding raise an even rarer occasion.

It helps that the Fremont, Calif.-based company has been around for a while. It spun out of LightPath Technologies in 1999 and has built a fairly strong reputation since, manufacturing modules for semiconductor and optical applications in addition to solar arrays. It also has a prestigious flock of investors, including CMEA Capital, Sigma Partners, NGEN Partners, and now Mitsui Ventures.

While Solaria has previously focused on utility and array-scale solar installations, it now seems more interested in getting a slice of the increasingly lucrative rooftop solar market. It’s aggressive growth strategy, fueled by the recent round of funding, will target commercial customers, like big-box retailers.

Solaria is one of several Bay Area solar companies, including Solyndra and BrightSource Energy, that could go a long way toward helping California achieve its 33 percent renewable energy mandate by its deadline in 2020.

Solaria previously raised $7 million in debt last December from German solar cell maker Q-Cells, NGEN, Sigma and Moserbaer India.