New Concentrating Solar Panels Bring Platform for Unparalleled Power to the
Rooftop
PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Practical Instruments, a
provider of high-performance concentrating solar panels, today announced it
has closed a $8M Series A funding round, led by solar investment veterans
RockPort Capital Partners and Nth Power, two of the leading venture capital
firms in clean tech. The Series A also includes investments from Trinity
Ventures, a leading early-stage venture investor with more than $1 billion
under management, and Rincon Venture Partners, a southern California-based
venture firm with strong ties to commercial real estate and large
multi-property owners and retail chains. The investment will fund the
production of Practical Instruments' flagship product, Heliotube(TM), for
the solar integrator, installer, and project developer channels.
"This is a company that has taken a systems-level approach, rapidly
delivering a solution that reduces total system cost while delivering on
market needs for high efficiency and familiar installation. Practical
Instruments offers all of that in a very capital-efficient business model,"
said Chuck McDermott, general partner, RockPort Capital Partners. "The
ability of the team, led by CEO and former NASA chief architect Brad Hines,
to also package all that in an industry-standard form, speaks volumes about
their near- and long-term market potential."
A mature technology traditionally used in central station ground-based
solar power implementations, Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV) is
experiencing a rebirth. With significant new innovations enabling CPV for
the rooftop, Heliotube sidesteps the inherent problems associated with
pole-mounted and central-tower CPV technologies by integrating its low
profile tracking technology into the standard flat panel form factor that
solar installers have been using for decades. By accommodating the large,
established channel with an industry-standard panel, Practical Instruments'
technology dramatically reduces installation time, materials, and costs,
while using 88 percent less photovoltaic material. The company has eight
patents pending.
"Despite the advances in solar over the past few years, it's rare to
find a team that is looking at the solution holistically," said Tim
Woodward, managing director, Nth Power. "The unique experience of the team
at Practical Instruments in bringing together optics, materials,
electronics, precision tracking, cooling, and software into cohesive
systems has led to a solution that reduces both module and installation
costs."
"After more than 14 years designing and implementing NASA-grade
opto-mechanical systems, my team and I decided to focus our efforts on a
solar solution designed with the key market demands in mind," said Brad
Hines, CEO and CTO of Practical Instruments. "With Heliotube, we've
engineered a product that reduces installation and materials costs, while
supporting our mantra: reduce the cost, not the power."
About RockPort Capital Partners
RockPort Capital Partners is a venture capital firm based in Boston, MA
that invests in companies in the energy, environmental, and advanced
materials sectors. The firm is committed to companies with breakthrough
technologies that deliver significant economic value to large potential
markets. With the closing of RockPort Capital Partners II in January 2006,
RockPort has now raised over $380 million for venture investments. For more
information, visit: http://www.rockportcap.com .
About Nth Power
Nth Power focuses on high-growth investment opportunities in the
trillion- dollar global energy and utility marketplace. Nth Power began
investing in 1997 and has over $250 million under management, with
investments in energy intelligence, power reliability, distributed
generation, and related services. Nth Power's industry partners include
leading electric and gas service providers and equipment manufacturers from
around the world. More information: http://www.nthpower.com.
About Trinity Ventures
Trinity Ventures, a 20-year veteran in the venture business with more
than $1 billion under management, partners with exceptional entrepreneurs
to build great companies. Trinity Ventures focuses on early-stage
technology investment opportunities with a particular emphasis on the
Digital Media, Internet Services, Mobility, Security and Software markets.
Trinity has invested in well over 100 ventures, including such leading
companies as Blue Nile, Crescendo Communications, Extreme Networks, Forte
Software, Illustra, LoopNet, Speedera Networks, Starbucks and Sygate.
About Rincon Venture Partners
Rincon Venture Partners aligns itself with extraordinary entrepreneurs
and supports them as they build world-class businesses. Based in Santa
Barbara, it targets California's Central Coast and the Greater Los Angeles
area. Rincon is an early-stage investor, typically following an angel round
as a company's first institutional investor. The partners focus on the
software and technology-enabled services sectors (for both businesses and
consumers), but are excited to talk to entrepreneurs about other compelling
opportunities within the technology landscape as well. Rincon initially
invests $500,000 to $1.5 million, and expects to invest an average of $3-4
million over the life of a portfolio company.
About Practical Instruments
Practical Instruments' next-generation solar panels dramatically reduce
the cost of solar power on commercial rooftops, and anywhere else that
solar panels are traditionally deployed. Our product platform, the
Heliotube(TM) concentrating solar panel, addresses the strong market need
for lower-cost, higher-power solutions for rooftop solar power. Heliotube
uniquely integrates a complete, self-powered, tracking solar concentrator
system into the form factor of conventional flat solar panels. Heliotube is
a "plug-compatible" alternative to standard solar panels, exactly
conforming to the existing standards and practices of the large,
established channels of solar installers, integrators, project managers,
dealers, and distributors. Practical Instruments, backed by some of the
most experienced and successful venture investors in clean tech and energy,
was founded in 2005 and is located in Pasadena, California. Please visit us
at http://www.practical-instruments.com .
SOURCE Practical Instruments
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Related links:
http://www.practical-instruments.com
http://www.nthpower.com http://www.rockportcap.com
CONTACT:
Caroline Venza of Antenna Group,
+1-415-977-1939, or caroline@antennagroup.com for Practical
Instruments
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