US based concentrated photovoltaic solar power company Amonix has raised $129.4m in funding to rapidly expand its manufacturing capacity.
The funding round, which marks one of the largest venture capital clean tech investments of the year so far, was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and follows a $25m series A funding round from Goldman Sachs and MissionPoint Capital, the company said.
Amonix said it will use the money to accelerate the development of its concentrated solar technology, which uses optics to focus the sun’s rays onto smaller photovoltaic cells.
The system features multi-junction solar cell technology originally developed for the space industry as an alternative to traditional monocrystalline photovoltaic cells.
The company claims it can reach conversion efficiencies of 39% in volume production, and can optimise the operational efficiency of its units by placing them on trackers that follow the sun.
In addition to the private funding, Amonix has also been granted $15.6m from the Department of Energy Solar America Initiative, along with $9.5m in stimulus funding.
The company now plans to expand its manufacturing operations.
