14 December 2010

Abound closes $400m DOE loan guarantee and $110m equity investment

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar module maker Abound Solar of Loveland, CO, USA has closed on a $400m loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

It has also raised a extra $110m in equity financing from existing investors Invus Group, Bohemian Companies, DCM, and Technology Partners, joined by new investors BP Alternative Energy Ventures and West Hill Companies. This increases Abound’s equity financing to about $260m since the firm's inception in 2007 (since when Abound has built its first production line in Longmont, CO and begun full-scale commercial operations in November 2009).

The debt and equity financings will enable Abound to expand manufacturing capacity at both its existing facility in Longmont, CO (where it has already begun construction of a second manufacturing line to boost capacity to 200MW per year by the end of 2011) and later at a second site in Indiana which, when completed, will create 1200 new manufacturing jobs.

Abound has leased a 781,750 square foot facility in Tipton, IN on a site comprising 104 acres in total. An investment group led by real-estate development firm W.W. Reynolds Companies of Boulder, CO bought the facility from the trust of contractors that had held the property since the 2009 bankruptcy of former owner Getrag Transmission Manufacturing LLC. Abound has entered into a long-term lease with W.W. Reynolds Companies that enables it to make the necessary property improvements to facilitate the development (beginning in 2012) of a solar module manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 640MW per year.

“We appreciate the support of the local community and its leaders that have helped to make this happen,” says president & CEO Tom Tiller. When both plants are complete, Abound will be able to produce more than 840MW of solar modules annually.

“Abound Solar’s strong partnership with a growing list of industry-leading customers gives us the confidence to make these large investments to meet the strong demand for our product,” says Tiller.

“Over the past three years, the company’s management team and employees have proven their ability to execute and build an innovative manufacturing platform that enables the company to significantly reduce the cost of solar electricity,” claims chairman Doug Schatz.

See related items:

DOE offers Abound Solar conditional commitment for $400m loan guarantee

Tags: Abound Solar CdTe thin-film PV

Visit: www.abound.com