China's Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) pulled out all the stops this week.

The solar power products manufacturer made a deal for a minority stake in Nitol Solar, a Russian polysilicon producer, for $100 million.

That agreement followed on the heels of Suntech's announced plans to raise $425 million in a notes offering.

The company plans to use most of the cash for procuring upstream supplies and for production capacity expansion and new technology commercialization.

Also putting out funds for solar was the U.S. Department of Energy, which plans to invest up to $13.7 million in 11 university-led solar projects. And Precede Technologies and Rosenram Development reportedly invested $1.1 million in solar integrator SolarPower Israel.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• The U.S. Department of Energy plans to invest up to $13.7 million in 11 university-led solar projects as part of an overall plan to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity. The DOE said the projects would focus on developing advanced solar photovoltaic manufacturing processes and products (see Solar projects getting $13.7M from U.S. DOE).
• Houston-based Water Standard said it received commitments of up to $250 million in equity to develop its ocean-going Seawater Desalination Vessels. Water Standard did not reveal the source of the funding but said the cash would allow the company to bring its desalination processes to a worldwide market.
• Coskata, a Warrenville, Ill.-based developer of waste-to-ethanol technology, disclosed that it raised $19.5 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing. Investors include Globespan Capital Partners, General Motors (NYSE: GM), Khosla Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures and Advanced Technology Ventures, but reports point out that it's unclear if this round is inclusive of the General Motors stake announced earlier this year. Globespan was not previously disclosed as a Coskata investor. Coskata previously pulled in $10 million in 2006.
• The sustainable investment firm headed up by Al Gore, Generation Investment Management, is set to close its main Global Equity Fund as it approaches a $5 billion target, according to reports. Managing partner David Blood said in a news conference that the firm could not manage more than $5 billion of assets. Blood declined to name clients, but said they were typically institutions, with 45 to 50 percent coming from Europe, 25 percent from Australia and the rest from the U.S.
• Wuxi, China's Suntech Power Holdings, a solar power products maker, signed a deal to take a minority stake in Russian polysilicon producer Nitol Solar for $100 million. Last August, Suntech entered into a multi-year first phase supply agreement with Nitol for the supply of committed monthly volumes of polysilicon to Suntech from 2009 to 2015. Nitol is currently building a new plant in Siberia, with a target capacity of 3,700 metric tons of polysilicon in 2009.
• Suntech also announced plans to raise $425 million in a notes offering. The company said it would offer the convertible senior notes in a private offering. Suntech expects to use about $300 million of the offering's net proceeds for procuring upstream supplies and for production capacity expansion and new technology commercialization. The company said any additional proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions.
• Paris-based Eco-Carbone, which specializes in carbon offset strategies, secured a €2.1 million first round of financing from Truffle Capital. The company is a consultant to coal mines on the recuperation of methane emissions and their transformation into energy, as well as a producer of biodiesels from Jatropha. Eco-Carbone said it has developed ten biodiesel sites in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mali and Brazil.
• Photovoltaics distributor SolarPower Israel reportedly raised $1.1 million from Precede Technologies and Rosenram Development. The solar integrator is expected to use the new cash to expand its operations in Israel and around the world.

Browse previous deals here.

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