Solar photovoltaic company Utilight has raised $4.5 million in a Series A financing round from investors that include Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), I2BF Global Ventures and Waarde Capital BV.
The proceeds will be used to develop the company’s wafer-metallization technology.
Wafer-metallization is the process of applying a conducting metal layer onto a solar photovoltaic cell. The current method that dominates the market is Screen Printing (SP), but this method, according to Utilight, has significant barriers in solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing: in reducing line width, excessive usage of silver paste, exerting excess pressure on the wafers and is suboptimal for maximum electric output of photovoltaic cells and panels.
Based in Yavne, the company was founded in 2009 by chairman and CEO Dr. Giora Dishon, Amir Noy, Misha Matusovsky and Moshe Finarov. Utilight has developed an innovative, patent pending, non-contact printing method, Pattern Transfer Printing (PTPTM), for high-volume manufacturing of solar photovoltaic cells, which both eliminates the manufacturing drawbacks and is more economical than available SP methods. The PTP process enables depositing finer lines with high aspect ratio and yields higher efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells.
12BF partner and head of research Alex Belyakov said, "Utilight brings solar photovoltaic cell manufacturers exactly what they need - manufacturing efficiency and higher performance of their products.”
Gadi Toren, RBVC venture capital investment partner will join Utilight's board of directors. He said, "We are backing an experienced team with an impressive track record in production processes of advanced technologies."
Managing partner at Waarde Capital Ays Sharaev said, "This project has all elements that are crucial for success: very experienced team, strong interest of potential clients, innovative technology and business model, and professional co-investors. Waarde Capital is glad to co-invest alongside with RBVC and I2BF in other projects in Israel and other countries."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 24, 2012
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