Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Solar Energy |
Founded | 2005 |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Tim Harris (CEO) Ryan Benton (CFO) |
Products | Solar panels |
Website | solopower.com |
SoloPower was a solar energy company developing and manufacturing Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film flexible Photo-voltaic Solar Panels. The company used a special electroplating technology to utilize nearly 100% of its materials.[1]
SoloPower was based in San Jose, California, and achieved the distinction of being the first company to obtain UL Certification of CIGS flexible solar panels in 2010.[2] This was lauded as a significant achievement by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[3] Later the same year, the company also received IEC Certification (IEC 61646 and 61730) of its flexible CIGS solar panels, again an industry first.[4] In March 2012, the company's modules set a world record aperture efficiency of 13.4% for flexible CIGS Solar Panels, as measured by NREL.[5]
SoloPower was founded by Bulent Basol and Homayoun Talieh in 2005.[6] The company started its pilot manufacturing line in December of the same year.[7] In 2010, the company secured $45 million in debt financing and used $19.9 million of that to acquire the shares of ousted founders Talieh and Basol.[8]
In 2010, SoloPower held talks with the town of Wilsonville, Oregon to set up a manufacturing plant there. In 2011, the United States Department of Energy approved a $197 Million Loan Guarantee to the company, enabling a 400MW manufacturing plant in Oregon.[9] In May 2011, SoloPower decided to move the manufacturing facility to Portland instead.[10] In April, 2013, SoloPower announced plans to suspend operations at the Portland plant and gut the remaining workforce.[11]
SoloPower was announced a winner of the 2012 TiE50 award in the category of Clean Energy.[12][13]
The company closed its doors in late 2017[citation needed] and is no longer operational.
The Norwegian firms Convexa Capital, Spencer Energy and Scatec have invested approximately $30 Million into SoloPower in 2007.[14] The United States Department of Energy funded the company[15] with $197 million from the same program that funded Solyndra,[16] as have the City of Portland and agencies in the State of Oregon, which provided $56.5 million,[17] and the California Energy Commission.[18] In early 2011, the company received $13.5 Million from Crosslink Capital.[19] Lead investors in the company include Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Crosslink Capital, Convexa, and Firsthand.[20]
In the summer of 2017, the State of Oregon's Department of Energy paid $641,835 to cover SoloPower's back rent.[21][22]
The City of Portland pays $119,000 per month until late 2020 to cover for SoloPower's default on a loan the City guaranteed under Mayor Sam Adams in 2011. The money is taken out of Portland's Bureau of Transportation.[23][24] The Bureau of Transportation pays because parking-meter revenue was used as guaranty.[25]