SolarEdge Raises $25M
10/05/2010
SustainableBusiness.com News
SolarEdge Technologies, a provider of solar microinverters power electronics for teh solar industry, has secured $25 million in funding, with Lightspeed Venture Partners leading the equity financing.
This round of financing also includes participation from existing investors Opus Capital, Genesis Partners, Walden International, ORR Partners, Vertex Venture Capital and JP Asia Capital Partners.
The company's photovoltaic (PV) power harvesting solution includes PowerBoxes, which are module-integrated power optimizers, solar inverters and a module-level PV monitoring portal.
(clarification: SolarEdge's technology performs DC to AC power inversion and the installation level, not the module level. Therefore, it is not a microinverter company--though it is a competitor with microinverter companies competing for small scale solar installations.)
Like microinverters made by Enphase Enegy, which is the niche market leader, SolarEdge says its units enable production of up to 25% more energy from any PV installation. SolarEdge is scaling up rapidly in an effort to take a portion of the market from Enphase.
The SolarEdge PowerBoxes™ are DC-DC power optimizers that perform maximum power point tracking (MPPT) per individual panel while monitoring performance of each panel and communicating across existing power lines. By allowing a fixed DC string voltage they allow greater efficiency, the company says.
In the past year SolarEdge has expanded its product portfolio, established mass production lines and global delivery infrastructure, partnered with PV module manufacturers, integrators and distributors worldwide, and generated sales growth.
“We will use this financing to further accelerate our growth to meet the soaring demand for our products worldwide, and intensify local sales and support activities in all major markets,” said Guy Sella, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of SolarEdge. “The funding will enable us to multiply our production capacity without compromising on quality and reliability.”
Website: www.solaredge.com