• Sunlight Financial

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2015

  Sunlight Financial is a technology-enabled finance company that provides point-of-sale consumer loans for residential solar, batteries and roofing through partnerships with installers, distributors and sales organizations nationwide. Its platform includes an intuitive installer portal and robust APIs designed to enable a fast, frictionless point-of-sale process for homeowners and partners. The company positions itself as an originator of high-quality assets and has secured more than $1 billion of capital for loans to homeowners. Sunlight aims to expand its product suite, enhance its technology platform, add strategic partners, and deepen existing partnerships to support growth in solar and adjacent home-improvement financing. Management describes the company as the fastest growing solar financing provider nationwide and emphasizes opportunities driven by the roughly $60 billion solar and energy-efficiency market. Sunlight Financial originates and finances loans for residential solar installations, positioning itself as a lender in the shift from third‑party leases toward solar loans and cash purchases. The company announced an additional $225 million capital raise to support loan originations and expects to finance more than 9,000 homes with that capital, at roughly $25,000 per loan. Using the U.S. average system size of about 5.7 kW-DC, the article estimates an implied all‑in cost of roughly $4.40/W for the loans Sunlight finances. EnergySage data show Sunlight breaking into the top 10 loan providers by market share. The company has grown through several large financings since 2015 to support nationwide expansion and to capture demand as the market shifts away from leases. No revenue or user counts were reported in the article. Sunlight Financial provides loan products and an online platform that enables homeowners to apply for credit and sign loan documents for residential solar systems. The company partners with solar installers, sales organizations and equipment distributors nationwide to simplify and streamline lending for system ownership. Its platform is used by installers and sales teams to offer loans to homeowners across the United States. Sunlight emphasizes capital markets expertise, risk management and consumer credit experience to support installer partners. The company plans to introduce new financing products, expand its Charlotte operations center, and partner with additional solar installers as part of its growth strategy. Financially, Sunlight has secured a $130 million commitment from Route 66 Ventures to support its expansion and product development. Sunlight Financial provides long-term loans to finance the installation of residential rooftop solar systems through market-leading installers and large equipment distributors. The company offers a broad suite of loan products aimed at channel partners and homeowners and emphasizes cost-effective capital and robust service offerings to scale with installers. Its strategy is to grow with several installers to minimize customer acquisition costs and overhead while expanding distribution. Sunlight recently secured $300 million in capital commitments to expand its business platform and increase access to lower-cost financing for residential rooftop solar assets. Management states the capital will be used to deploy loans and enhance product offerings to better serve customers and channel partners. Leadership changes tied to the financing include Neil Z. Auerbach becoming executive chairman while CEO Matthew R. Potere will continue to lead the executive team and hold a board seat.

• Silicor Materials

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2015

  Silicor Materials produces lower-cost solar silicon using a proprietary metals-based process that consumes two-thirds less energy than traditional methods and requires no toxic chemicals. The company’s silicon is suitable for PV wafers and cells and achieves conversion efficiencies comparable to conventional materials. Silicor also yields premium aluminum alloys and a polyaluminum chloride (PAC) by-product that are sold into other industrial markets. The company has secured sales commitments and letters of intent with leading global solar module manufacturers equivalent to roughly 75% of the planned plant’s annual production. Silicor is advancing construction of its first commercial-scale manufacturing operation in Grundartangi, Iceland, with equipment from SMS Siemag and construction by MT Højgaard, supported by local subcontractors. The company is based in San Jose, California, with additional locations in Ontario, Canada and Berlin, Germany. Silicor Materials manufactures high-quality solar silicon and aluminum by-products, with silicon purification operations performed by its wholly owned subsidiary Silicor Materials Canada Inc. in Ontario and an R&D center in Berlin, Germany. The company says it is the lowest-cost producer of high-quality solar silicon for the PV industry, with estimated cash production costs of approximately $9/kg and demonstrated quality and performance on par with traditional electronic-grade silicon. Its proprietary technology can produce solar silicon for PV wafers and cells that achieve conversion efficiencies in excess of 17 percent. Silicor is in advanced development work at multiple sites for a new solar silicon manufacturing plant capable of producing 16,000 metric tons per year. The company received $6 million in new funding from existing investor Hudson Clean Energy Partners to support continued operations and growth through its next capital raise and has engaged Robert W. Baird & Co. as its investment banker. Silicor also added Mark Pinto to its board of directors. Calisolar designs and manufactures high-performance solar wafers and cells that rely on lower-cost silicon feedstock and innovative purification techniques. The company began commercial shipments of solar cells in January 2010 and its cells are in the final stages of qualification at multiple global panel manufacturers. Calisolar acquired 6N Silicon through a stock-for-stock transaction; 6N will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company raised $22.5M from existing Calisolar and 6N investors to support expansion. Proceeds will increase capacity at Calisolar’s Sunnyvale cell manufacturing facility and expand silicon purification operations in Vaughan, Ontario. Calisolar plans to integrate 6N’s low-cost silicon purification methods to lower manufacturing and energy costs, improve silicon yield and enable scrap silicon recycling.

• SoloPower

  Participated · Equity · Mar 2011

  SoloPower produces flexible, lightweight photovoltaic modules using copper indium gallium di-selenide (CIGS) solar cells fabricated via a proprietary roll-to-roll electrodeposition process. Its modules are certified to UL and IEC standards and are designed to reduce balance-of-system hardware and simplify installation. The company is expanding manufacturing capacity by upgrading its San Jose facility and building two new high-volume facilities in Portland, Oregon, which together are expected to produce approximately 400MW of thin-film modules annually. SoloPower has received a $197 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to support construction and operation of the three facilities. The expansion is projected to create about 450 permanent jobs, 270 construction jobs, and several hundred additional supply-chain positions. Corporate headquarters remain in San Jose while the company constructs its manufacturing headquarters and first high-volume lines in Portland. SoloPower produces flexible thin-film solar panels—photovoltaic cells printed on a bendable surface that can be placed in locations unsuitable for rigid panels. The company’s panels are typically less efficient than wafer-style cells, converting roughly 15–20% of incident light into electricity. SoloPower is pursuing factory expansion and manufacturing scale: it secured a $197 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a thin-film panel factory in Wilsonville, Ore. The company has also obtained a $20 million loan from Oregon’s state government to support its operations. Financially, an SEC filing shows SoloPower has raised $15 million so far of a targeted $43.8 million fifth funding round, following a prior $51 million fourth round. The filing previously indicated $13.5 million raised and an earlier plan to raise around $20 million in March, but the new filing reflects the higher target. SoloPower manufactures photovoltaic cells on a flexible surface to produce thin-film solar panels that can be bent and placed almost anywhere. The company’s thin-film panels are generally less efficient than hard wafer-style cells, typically converting about 15–20% of incident light into energy. According to an SEC filing, SoloPower raised $13.5 million in its fifth round of funding from Crosslink Capital and others. The filing also lists participation from Hudson Clean Energy Partner and Convexa AS and says the company still plans to raise an additional $6.5 million. SoloPower previously raised $51 million in its fourth round and received a $20 million loan from Oregon’s state government. It also secured a $197 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a thin-film panel factory in Wilsonville, Ore.; VentureBeat contacted SoloPower for confirmation and additional details. SoloPower makes flexible thin-film solar panels using copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) technology. The company uses a proprietary electroplating-based process to manufacture CIGS cells on flexible metal foil, then processes them in a moduling line and laminates them with an encapsulation system that provides a moisture barrier and environmental integrity. Its flexible, lighter-weight panels are intended for installations where rigid polycrystalline silicon options won’t work. SoloPower expects to address the commercial and industrial rooftop and distributed solar power generation markets. It recently attained safety certifications from Underwriter Laboratories and others, and as of December 2010 had customers in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Korea and multiple locations in North America. Financially, SoloPower raised $51.6 million in a venture round and earlier secured about $45 million in debt financing; it is seeking a possible $190 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy and has been reported to be seeking a $20 million state energy loan in Oregon to build a plant in Portland. SoloPower manufactures lightweight, flexible thin-film solar modules aimed at rooftop installations that are unsuitable for heavy, rigid panels. Its modules are about 10% efficient and the company claims manufacturing processes that conserve materials and reduce use of expensive components by a factor of five. SoloPower plans to expand its existing San Jose manufacturing line and build a new flexible module factory half a mile away, initially targeting 300 megawatts of annual output and creating roughly 500 permanent jobs. Management says the recent financing gives the company runway to start ramping up production in the summer and that it expects to reach profitability if plans proceed. The company competes with Solyndra, Uni-Solar, NanSolar and Miasole and emphasizes custom, lightweight installations that reduce overall installation costs. Founded in 2005, SoloPower has a board with representatives from Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Firsthand Capital Management, Crosslink Capital and Convexa Capital.

No current team members are available.