Sencera nabs another $15.6M for solar cells

While the overall economy may be in a bad spot, investments in green funds and renewable energy startups are showing little sign of waning, with solar firms like SoloPower, Nanosolar and AVA Solar leading the way. Its financial prowess may not match that of its better established competitors, but Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sencera isn’t doing too badly either, capping a second round of funding with $15.6 million from Quercus Trust.

The round will help the company vault past the halfway mark in raising cash for its $37 million plant in Charlotte and allow it to establish a full manufacturing line. It expects to begin commercial-scale production of its solar cells by the third quarter of 2009. To receive all the funding, the company will have to demonstrate its progress by hitting three separate targets; it has already gotten $5.2 million and will get another $5.2 million soon, company officials predict.

Sencera makes nanocrystalline solar cells using a technology it originally developed for the computer industry — spraying a plasma layer on the base materials — to increase chip production speed. It claims its technology helps it produce cells at much faster rates than its rivals. The first modules its production line will begin rolling out in late 2009 will boast a capacity of 35 megawatts.

Sencera raised $4.6 million in first round funding earlier this year, also from Quercus Trust.

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