Stealthy thin-film solar panel developer Stion announced yesterday that it has landed a partnership with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Today, it's keeping the good news rolling with announcements of $70 million in fourth-round capital and new plans to expand its San Jose, Calif. manufacturing facility in size and headcount.
As part of the deal with TSMC, the semiconductor giant has bought a 21 percent stake in Stion for $50 million -- included in the $70 million provided partially by existing investors, including Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners and Braemar Energy Ventures. Venture Tech Alliance led this most recent round of funding.
In exchange for its investment, TSMC is getting the license to Stion's patented CIGSS thin-film solar technology, a design known for reducing the amount of silicon needed in solar installations and thereby lowering costs. Together, Stion and TSMC will continue product development to increase panel efficiency and make its thin-film more competitive with crystalline silicon panels.
Today, Stion makes panels for a diversity of applications, including rooftop residential, commercial and government installations, as well as utility-scale arrays and off-grid use like streetlights (see photo above).
The new $70 million in venture capital will be applied to expand Stion's manufacturing operations by 100 megawatts worth of panels. This plant already churns out panels that generate 120 to 130 watts per square meter. Growing the facility will add 500 new temporary and permanent jobs in the San Jose area in the next two years, according to Stion.
Between this Stion plant, solar maker Solyndra's manufacturing complex in Fremont, Calif., and Tesla Motors' potentially huge plant in Fremont's NUMMI automotive plant, San Francisco's South Bay area may become the epicenter of the green collar economy in the next several years.
Stion previous raised $44.6 million and is talking a big game about breaking into profitability without taking any more private money. It will be interesting to see if the boost from TSMC is enough to make this happen -- so many other venture-backed thin-film producers have struggled for years in the red.