Chinese solar company Chint Solar announced that it raised US$50 million in a round of funding led by Cybernaut Growth Fund and Shanghai Alliance Investment.
The company said the funding will support the launch of mass production, by the second half of 2009, of silicon tandem-junction thin film solar modules. It will also be used to help the company reach an expansion goal of 240 megawatts (MW) of total production capacity by 2010.
Cybernaut is led by Mr. Min Zhu, who, in 1996, co-founded WebEx in Silicon Valley, which was listed in 2000 on the NASDAQ, and acquired by Cisco in 2007 for a US$3.2 billion.
Shanghai Alliance Investment was founded in 1994, focusing on investments in new industries, with a sector focus on financial services and high-tech.
Chint Solar said within two to four years, breakthroughs in its thin-film technology, will lower the cost of photovoltaic power generation from US$2 per watt to US$1--reaching grid parity shortly thereafter.
The company also said it will increase efficiency of its thin film solar modules from present levels of 9% to 11% and above
Chint solar CEO Liyou Yang said he believes the recovery of global capital markets is underway, and after 2009, it may be an attractive time to seek a public listing for Chint solar.
