Levée de fonds de 25,5 millions de dolars pour Ausra

Ausra raises $25.5M for narrowed focus on solar equipment

Ausra, one of the big names in Silicon Valley solar, just brought in $25.5 million to become a primary supplier of solar thermal equipment for utilities and power generation plants. The money couldn’t come at a better time as capital continues to dry up, especially in the cleantech and solar sectors. At the same time, it solidifies the Mountain View, Calif. company’s role as a supplier, and not a builder of plants itself. Ausra is one of the prime examples of solar companies that have had to turn to equipment sales in lieu of building power generation facilities due to the economic downturn. Late last year, its plan was to build several utility-scale plants in the southwestern U.S. But that roadmap was put on hold at the end of January when it became clear that the company wouldn’t be able to raise enough capital to finance the projects, which would have cost upwards of $1 billion. On top of that, in December Ausra trimmed a dozen employees from its staff to better weather the climate, and shifted its focus to sales of its concentrated solar equipment.  Ausra's technology involves erecting mirrors that concentrate the sun's light for heating up water in pipes to produce steam. It has a factory in Las Vegas that can produce 350 megawatts worth of equipment per year.The company still has a contract to deliver solar power from a 177-megawatt plant to Pacific Gas and Electric (see Ausra to Build 177-Megawatt Solar-Thermal Plant). In January, the company said it remained committed to finishing that project.