Ultrathin-film solar start-up snags $41.5 million in funding

Solexant, a green tech startup that intends to raise the bar in efficiency for manufacturing ultrathin-film solar cells, has just closed a $41.5 million round of venture funding, including new player Olympus Capital Partners.

Solexant's value proposition is its manufacturing process, which it is piloting at its facility in San Jose, Calif. Its process is based on a roll-to-roll technique that was pioneered at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The company plans to "print" its first commercial solar cells on cadmium telluride nanocrystals.

Damody Reddy, CEO of the company, said the new funding will help Solexant accelerate its push toward commercial production -- which it should reach in 12 months to 18 months. The process will allow Solexant to produce modules that are two to three times larger than those produced via competitive approaches, he says. This will help reduce the cost of the manufacturing process, which will, in turn, help Solexant's technology potentially deliver the lowest cost per watt in the solar industry.

Aside from Olympus, the other firms participating in Solexant's latest round of funding are DBL Investors and Birchmere Ventures.

Rami Elkhatib, general partner for Olympus Capital, says technologies that promise to help the green tech sector achieve new cost efficiencies will be the focus of his firm's new fund. Solexant is the first company of the 10 to 12 that Olympus hopes to fund over the next five years through its $150 million inaugural fund.