SolarCity raises $30 million
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - by Lindsay Riddell
Solar installer SolarCity raised $30 million in new funding, $25 million coming from the world’s largest thin film solar panel manufacturer First Solar.
The Foster City business has raised $56 million in venture capital and equity financing and is the largest residential installer in California. The money will help the company expand into other states in addition to Oregon and Arizona.
The relationship with Phoenix-based First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) marks SolarCity’s first foray into thin film solar panels. The company has to this point installed silicon-based panels like those produced by Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR), BP (NYSE: BP) and Kyocera (NYSE: KYO) and will add First Solar’s to the mix.
“Our company is on a fantastic trajectory with seeing really aggressive adoption (of solar) and there’s not one technology solution that fits for all customers,” said Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity.
As part of the investment, First Solar will supply 100 megawatts of thin film panels to SolarCity over the next five years.
First Solar’s thin film panels use cadmium telluride to absorb sunlight. First Solar is producing its thin film panels at $1.14 per watt this year compared to silicon panels that average $2.50 per watt. But thin film is also less efficient, which means it requires larger panels and therefore more roof space to produce the same amount of electricity as silicon-based panels.
“What I really like about it is the look,” Rive said. “It’s a very good looking module.”
First Solar’s panels will help the company drive down costs in its lease program, which offers residential customers in some markets the opportunity to lease their panels at a lower cost than what they pay for electricity.
But with the more expensive silicon-based panels, SolarCity can only offer immediate cost savings in places like San Francisco and Berkeley where extra incentives are available to solar customers on top of what the state and federal government already offers.
With thin film, SolarCity can offer immediate cost savings in more markets in the United States, Rive said.
San Francisco Business Times
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