Semprius Soaks Up $6M To Focus On Solar Cells

By Scott Denne Dow Jones Clean Technology Insight

6/10/2009 – Though its technology has applications in several fields, Semprius Inc. has secured $6.4 million in Series B financing to continue its focus on developing printed solar modules.

Existing investor ARCH Venture Partners led the April round, with participation from Applied Ventures, Illinois Ventures and Intersouth Partners. New investors In-Q-Tel and GVC Investment Fund, a firm based in Japan, also invested in the round, said Joe Carr, the company's chief executive. He declined to disclose the valuation.

Semprius' technology strips off the active layer of a wafer of solar cells and prints that layer onto a ceramic layer, creating a highly focused solar module with improved heat dissipation, due to the smaller cell size - about one-one thousandth of a standard cell - Carr said.

After stripping off the active layer, the company sends the leftover wafer back to the foundry to build more solar cells and repeats the process, saving money since the wafer is a major part of the cost of cells, Carr said.

Semprius' electronics printing process can be used for several other applications, but it chose to initially focus on solar over the last 18 months because of the "almost insatiable demand for electricity," Carr said.

It also is exploring applications in display technologies and disk drives, but more than 90% of its efforts are dedicated to building solar modules, Carr said.

The proceeds of the round will be used to guide Semprius through another "year-plus" of development. The company hopes to have a pilot line in testing by the end of next year or early 2011, Carr said.

The financing should be ample to last the company through the middle of next year, but it has several opportunities for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy that could delay the need for more venture capital, Carr said.

Semprius was founded in 2005 with technology initially developed at the University of Illinois. It raised a $4.1 million Series A just over two years ago, which it quickly followed with an investment from Applied Ventures.

http://www.semprius.com