It was starting to look like a dark time for solar, but Israel's Solel Solar Systems may have turned the industry back toward the light with $105 million in financing from Ecofin.
And there's more to come. The investment manager said Solel would hold an additional round of funding.
Petaluma, Calif.-based Enphase Energy also helped brighten things up for solar, with the developer of micro-inverter based solar energy management systems pulling in $6.5 million in funding.
The financing was led by Third Point Ventures.
Rounding out the deals this week was news from energy efficient lighting companies, a thermal management technology firm, and a water and wastewater services group.
Deals we saw over the past week:
- Petaluma, Calif.-based Enphase Energy, which is developing micro-inverter based solar energy management systems, raised $6.5 million in funding. The financing was led by Third Point Ventures.
- Luxim, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based developer of energy-efficient lighting technologies, raised $21 million in additional Series D funding. The total for the round is now $39 million. DAG Ventures led the latest round, joined by return investors Sequoia Capital, Crosslink Capital and Worldview Technology Partners.
- SJS Technology, a Goleta, Calif.-based solid-state lighting startup, reportedly secured $2.5 million of a $5 million Series A round, led by Khosla Ventures.
- Glacier Bay, a Union City, Calif.-based developer of system-integrated DC power and thermal management technologies, raised $30 million in Series B funding. The Quercus Trust led the round, joined by return investor New Enterprise Associates.
- China's ReneSola (NYSE: SOL ), a manufacturer of crystalline silicon wafers for the production of solar cells, priced its offering of 10 million American Depositary Shares at $13, the low end of the company's expected range, raising $130 million on the New York Stock Exchange. Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are the lead underwriters on the deal.
- U.K.-based Cascal (NYSE: HOO ), which provides water and wastewater services, also priced at the low end of its expected range, pricing 12 million shares at $12. The selling shareholders sold 3.3 million shares in the offering. JP Morgan managed the deal.
- Stanford Venture Capital Holdings committed to invest $10 million in AquAgro Fund, a venture capital fund formed to focus on Israel's water, agriculture and cleantech businesses. The fund invests primarily in the water-related technology field, including desalination, filtering, and water recycling.
- GreatPoint Energy , a Cambridge, Mass., developer of gasification technologies, received an undisclosed amount of funding from St. Louis, Mo.'s Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU ). The two plan to jointly develop coal gasification projects using Peabody reserves and land. GreatPoint previously raised $150 million in funding from Advanced Technology Ventures, DFJ, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla Ventures, and others.
- Beit Shemesh, Israel-based Solel Solar Systems raised $105 million from Ecofin (see Solel takes in $105M for solar thermal .) The investment manager said Solel would hold an additional round of funding, after which Ecofin would hold a "very significant minority stake" in Solel, with one published report pegging it at 40 percent.
- Marquiss Wind Power, a Folsom, Calif.-based developer of rooftop wind turbines, raised $1.3 million in Series A funding. Velocity Venture Capital led the round, joined by Strategis Early Ventures.
- Satya Vani Homes, a Hyderabad, India-based green real estate project developer, said it would receive $10 million from private equity fund Amitayus Investments. Satya Vani said the cash would be used to partially fund a green homes project near Hyderabad.
Browse previous deals here .
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