$3.5 billion Solaria cell supply deal

Silicon Valley-based Solaria's new staggering $3.46 billion cell supply agreement with Q-Cells, announced today, is one of the solar industry’s largest cell deals to date.

Germany's Q-Cells is to ensure Solaria's access to 1.35 gigawatts (GW) of solar cells over the next ten years in connection with a new $50 million Series C round of funding led by Q-Cells.

With this investment, Q-Cells increased its non-controlling stake in Solaria to 33 percent, up from 12.39 percent.

Q-Cells was joined in the round by existing investors Sigma Partners, NGEN and Moser Baer.

The cell supply arrangement is to enable Solaria to produce over 2.7 GW of its forthcoming photovoltaic modules using its proprietary cell-multiplication technology.

The long-term relationship between Q-Cells and Solaria is to focus on the commercialization and scaling of Solaria’s PV technology platform.

Founded in 1999, Q-Cells of Thalheim, Germany, is the leading independent manufacturer of solar cells worldwide and the second largest solar cell manufacturer in the world.

It has made strategic investments across the spectrum of solar technologies, hedging its bets about which will win. Read our coverage of Q-Cells here.

Based in Fremont, California, Solaria is developing new solar cells and modules. The company is applying science from the semiconductor and optics industries "to yield two highly efficient cells from one," it says.

Solaria says it's preparing to scale production.

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