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Money & Company

Solaria Corp. of Fremont gets $45-million investment

By Tiffany Hsu
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Investors gave $45 million to Solaria Corp., based in Fremont, Calif., to fund the firm’s “aggressive growth plans,” the solar company said Tuesday.

Solaria designs and manufactures photovoltaic modules for ground-mounted arrays that track the sun through the day, boosting the amount of energy harvested by up to 30%, the company said. The flat-plate modules are available in 210-, 220- and 230-watt increments.

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The company wants to take advantage of increased demand for utility projects or large-scale plans, such as installations on parking lots or at big-box retailers. Solaria has begun shipping its module to North American, European and Asian customers as of late April.

The funding may help California continue to dominate clean-technology investment. In the first quarter of 2010, the state pulled in 32 clean-tech deals worth $487.9 million out of 72 deals worth $733.3 million nationwide.

The Solaria financing round was led by San Francisco-based firms CMEA Capital, which also includes Fremont solar company Solyndra in its investment portfolio, and DBL Investors, which funds Bay Area companies SolarCity and Brightsource Energy Inc.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Money & Company
Tiffany Hsu

Tiffany Hsu is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she wrote about the California economy, fast food, restaurants, retail and alternative energy for the Business section. A Bay Area native, UC Berkeley graduate and eternal Nor-Cal fan, she once worked for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. She also did a stint at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where she developed a passion for sweet tea. She still has faith that someday she’ll find two economists who agree.

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