Solaria gets $50 million in funding
Contra Costa Times, July 25, 2007
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_6460741?nclick_check=1
Fremont-based startup solar panel firm Solaria Corp. said it has snagged $50 million in funding led by Germany’s Q-Cells AG, one of the world’s largest independent manufacturers of solar cells. The 35-employee, 7-year-old Solaria, will use the funding for research and development and to increase its production capacity, according to its chief executive. Thalheim, Germany-based Q-Cells contributed $25 million, increasing its existing stake in the Fremont startup firm.
Solaria’s product, lower-cost solar panels, will go on sale at the end of this year or the beginning of 2008, according to Suvi Sharma, Solaria’s chief executive. Solaria claims to offer a more efficient low-cost way to manufacture solar panels. The company aims to produce solar panels selling for 30 percent less than comparable products. Its product uses less of the expensive silicon that drives up solar panel costs.