News Article
SoloPower secures another $7.1 million for CIGS development
The CIGS solar panel manufacturer should do well although prices of conventional silicon solar panels are continuing to shrink
CIGS Solar firm SoloPower is building and staffing a $340 million manufacturing facility in North Portland.
The company last year finalised a $197 million loan guarantee.
The firm says the $20 million round of debt and options closed in December by SoloPower CEO Tim Harris was a “critical step” towards completing the Portland facility. This week’s financing is a follow-up to the December round.
SoloPower has a number of investors, which include Hudson Clean Energy Partners and Crosslink Capital.
While there have been a number of high-profile loan guarantee-backed flameouts, such as Solyndra, Harris has been adamant that SoloPower is advancing quickly and will be successful.
SoloPower reckons its flexible CIGS solar panels are lighter and easier to install than rack-mounted arrays of silicon-based photovoltaics.
But as Greentech Media’s Eric Wesoff points out, the company is wading into a so far unproven market and with the price of conventional silicon solar panels continuing to shrink, its value proposition may be on the decline as well.
