Charge your iPod on the go with Neuber’s “Sun Bags”
Ever have your iPod die on you right when you leave for a jog? Or realize your digital camera is out of juice during a perfect photo opp? Now two companies are harnessing the power of the sun to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Sports apparel retailer Neuber and unique solar panel maker Konarka have teamed up to make solar-powered “Sun Bags” that hold and charge personal electronics while you’re out and about.
The key… Continue Reading
Massachusetts shines on solar co. Konarka, loans $5M
Thin-film solar company Konarka just landed a $5 million loan from the Emerging Technology Fund of Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust’s Business Expansion Initiative. The funds will be used to build out its new solar material factory in New Bedford, Mass., which has been open since October.
Konarka is known for making plastic solar film capable of turning natural and artificial light into power. Its current manufacturing plant can make enough… Continue Reading
Innovalight rakes in $5M for solar cell ink
Investors Leader Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank have shined on solar cell company Innovalight, providing $5 million in new financing toward the development of silicon solar modules so small they can be painted onto surfaces like ink.
The Sunnyvale, Calif. company uses liquid processing of silicon to produce nanosize solar prarticles that are not only more efficient than crystalline wafers, but also much cheaper to make than regular solar panels. It received $28 million last year… Continue Reading
Konarka raises $45M more for solar, despite no clear direction
Konarka, yet another company experimenting with new-fangled technology to produce more efficient solar cells, hasn’t been able to articulate a clear business strategy in the six years since it started.
However, solar technology is hot, and the company has raised $45 million more in capital to give it more time to keep trying. It has now raised more than $100 million.
Like several other start-ups, the Lowell, Mass. company has been using non-silicon material to produce a… Continue Reading
Another solar company, Konarka, slips — now seeking $40M
We wrote recently about several solar companies that had slipped in their timing to deliver new solar power technologies.
Konarka, a Lowell, Mass. company, is the latest example suggesting delay. The company uses organic plastics to create low-cost solar cells, has worked away for six years, chomped through $80 million, and has yet to produce its first commercial prototype. Now it is seeking $40 million in late-stage financing, according to VentureWire (subscription required).
In a statement earlier… Continue Reading