Nanosolar raises $300 million for thin-film solar

Nanosolar, a maker of thin-film solar panels, said that it has raised $300 million to accelerate production of solar-power facilities in Berlin and San Jose, Calif.

The round of funding, which was completed this spring but announced Wednesday by Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen on the company’s blog, brings the total money the six-year-old company has raised to half of a billion dollars. Nanosolar is one of the darlings of the clean-tech investing craze.
“The new capital will allow us to accelerate production expansion for our 430 megawatt San Jose factory and our 620 megawatt Berlin factory,” Roscheisen wrote.

He did not say when the facilities will be complete. But he said that the funding will help the company meet demand for the thin-film solar technology it introduced in December. Nanosolar is one of several companies betting on a photovoltaic-alternative known as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), which purportedly convert more sunlight into energy than other types of thin-film materials.

CNET