Craton Equity Partners and Espirito Santo Ventures join in $40m expansion funding for Petra Solar

8 February 2010

New Jersey-based solar provider Petra Solar has raised $40m in expansion funding for its pole mounted solar solutions designed to meet the communication infrastructure needs of a smart grid. The company said the new capital will be channeled towards the development of the company’s pole mounted solar powered, two-way telemetry data recorder.

‘The Petra Solar management team is very pleased to have Craton Equity Partners and Espírito Santo Ventures as investors, especially given their experience in cleantech growth investing and their expertise in the regulated energy sector. We are also thankful for the continued support of our existing investors,’ said Petra Solar CEO and president, Dr Shihab Kuran.

Two new investors, Craton Equity Partners and Espírito Santo Ventures, led the latest round with 100 per cent participation from existing investors Element Partners, Blue Run Ventures, the US Army’s venture fund OnPoint Technologies and Kuwait’s National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC).

‘Petra Solar’s SunWaveTM solution is incredibly compelling because it does not require a large footprint in environmentally protected areas, thereby avoiding long transmission lines or costly permitting and citing procedures. SunWaveTM is a proven, cost effective and accelerated approach for utilities to address Renewable Portfolio Standards while simultaneously building smart grid capabilities,’ said Bob Macdonald managing partner, Craton.

Petra Solar will use the new round of financing to expand its customer base, with plans to hire another 30 executive and professional employees immediately. By the end of 2010, the company expects to employ 165 people, a ten-fold increase from its base of 15 last spring.

Petra Solar is shipping the SunWaveTM system in volume. The company said the systems add reliability to the distribution grid while simultaneously providing smart grid communication capabilities across PSE&G’s service territory in New Jersey.

The company will expand its product line to address new applications and market segments that leverage its Smart Energy ModuleTM platform, which integrates utility grade power management, smart grid communications and grid availability features into a single system.

This expansion of funding builds upon the announcement last October that Petra Solar and BP would continue working together in a joint collaboration on solar products for smart grid applications.

Copyright © 2010 NewNet

Tags: smart grid, solar

This story was published on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 6:41 pm and is filed under North America, deals, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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