Greentech notes: SoloPower, MWOE, SNTech
Here’s a roundup of the latest green technology developments.
SoloPower announces investors — The Milpitas, Calif. make of photovoltaic solar cells and modules ,said it has $30 million more in a second round of capital. That adds to its previous $10 million. It’s well-funded, but not near nearly as well as some other players using the similar material, copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS), to make newer, low-cost solar cells. Nanosolar, Heliovolt, Solyndra and Miasole have all raised significantly more cash. We reported SolorPower’s funding yesterday, but the company hadn’t disclosed investor names. Today it released those names: Convexa Capital, which led the investment, Scatec, Spencer Energy and existing investors Crosslink Capital, Firsthand Capital Management and Musea Ventures.
MWOE Solar, yet another “thin-film” solar panel maker, raises $7M — The company, based in Ohio, received the funding from Emerald Technology Ventures and NGP Energy Technology Partners. Like all the companies mentioned above, it uses a thin-film technology. Thin-film refers to the thin layer of CIGS or other material deposited onto a substrate, which makes solar panels more flexible than traditional silicon-based solar technology (see image above, which comes from MWOE’s site).
SNTech, low-power motor maker, raises $1.2M — The company, of Seoul, Korea, makes low-power brushless DC motors for household appliances. SAIL Venture Partners won a quarter ownership of the company, in return for the investment (VentureWire; subscription required).
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
