San Francisco Business Times - by Lindsay Riddell
Courtesy of Solaria Corp.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown speaks at an event at Solaria Corp. Thursday.View Larger
Solar panel manufacturer Solaria said today it will move to a new location in Fremont to expand its office and manufacturing space.
The startup recently raised $45 million in venture capital and some of that will be used to retrofit the vacant factory in North Fremont where Solaria will locate its headquarters.
“For North America we’re doing all of our manufacturing here,” said Solaria CEO Dan Shugar.
The company said it hopes to move into its new headquarters in December. The plant will also have a large solar plant attached. Solaria wouldn't disclose the size of the new facility.
Solaria holds 30 patents on its photovoltaic solar modules which splice silicon cells into strips and concentrate the sun onto those strips to get more solar energy production out of half the silicon of normal cells. Shugar said using half the silicon can reduce the cost of a standard panel by 40 percent.
Shugar made the announcement at an event at Solaria’s current Fremont location off of Fremont Boulevard, which featured many of the Democratic candidates running for state election.
Speaking at the event were Jerry Brown, an Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, whose running for lieutenant governor, Kamala Harris, Assembly member and insurance commissioner candidate Dave Jones, Treasurer Bill Lockyear, Secretary of State Deborah Bowen, Controller John Chiang and Kamala Harris, candidate for Attorney General.
All talked about investing in cleantech to create California jobs for the future and all pointed out Brown’s 30-year legacy in supporting clean energy.
Solaria has raised $122 million in venture capital and has not received federal stimulus funding.
“One nice thing about this facility we’re going to is it’s entitled for expansion,” said Shugar of the new headquarters. “There’s adjacent space there and that’s already been approved by the city.”
Solar panel manufacturer Solaria said today it will move to a new location in Fremont to expand its office and manufacturing space.
The startup recently raised $45 million in venture capital and some of that will be used to retrofit the vacant factory in North Fremont where Solaria will locate its headquarters.
“For North America we’re doing all of our manufacturing here,” said Solaria CEO Dan Shugar.
The company said it hopes to move into its new headquarters in December. The plant will also have a large solar plant attached. Solaria wouldn't disclose the size of the new facility.
Solaria holds 30 patents on its photovoltaic solar modules which splice silicon cells into strips and concentrate the sun onto those strips to get more solar energy production out of half the silicon of normal cells. Shugar said using half the silicon can reduce the cost of a standard panel by 40 percent.
Shugar made the announcement at an event at Solaria’s current Fremont location off of Fremont Boulevard, which featured many of the Democratic candidates running for state election.
Speaking at the event were Jerry Brown, an Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, whose running for lieutenant governor, Kamala Harris, Assembly member and insurance commissioner candidate Dave Jones, Treasurer Bill Lockyear, Secretary of State Deborah Bowen, Controller John Chiang and Kamala Harris, candidate for Attorney General.
All talked about investing in cleantech to create California jobs for the future and all pointed out Brown’s 30-year legacy in supporting clean energy.
Solaria has raised $122 million in venture capital and has not received federal stimulus funding.
“One nice thing about this facility we’re going to is it’s entitled for expansion,” said Shugar of the new headquarters. “There’s adjacent space there and that’s already been approved by the city.”
Lindsay Riddell covers cleantech and green for the San Francisco Business Times.
Contact her at lriddell@bizjournals.com or (415) 288-4968.
Read her blog postings at Bay Area BizTalk.
