Intel has invested €24 million (about $37.5 million) into Berlin-based solar module manufacturer Sulfurcell GmbH. The company produces monolithic solar modules that feature a high efficiency. The move is part of Intel's clean tech investment strategy.
Intel's investment is executed via the company's VC unit Intel Capital. The microprocessor vendor is the largest single investor in Sulfurcell. The current financing round allocates a total sum of €85 million.
The list of the investors include Climate Change Private Equity, semiconductor production engineering company M+W Zander, Swedish electric utility Vattenfall's VC arm Europe Venture Capital, and the Berlin-based Hahn-Meitner Institute (HMI) of which Sulfurcell is a spin-off.
For its thin film modules, Sulfurtech uses materials of the CIS/CIGSe (Copper/Indium/Sulfur/Selenium) family as absorber materials. The company claims that in a pilot production line it already manufactures high efficiency modules. The production process is suitable for mass production.
"Investments into clean tech such as solar energy take center stage for Intel capital, in particular against the background of constantly rising energy costs for consumers and enterprises," explained in Intel Capital president Arvind Sodhani in a press release. "We invest in innovative technologies in order to boost alternative energy sources, reduce emissions and expand the usage of these technologies."
According to Heiko von Dewitz, investment director for Intel Capital, the semiconductor giant picked Sulfurcell for its investments because of the high efficiency of its thin film modules. In addition, Sulfurcell's technology opens perspectives for new application segments such as building integrated photovoltaics, for instance integrated solutions for rooftops and building fronts. Intel regards the investment in Sulfurcell as complementary to a recent investment in start-up SpectraWatt which produces silicon-based solar wafers, von Dewitz explained.
Sulfurcell was launched in 1999 by HMI graduate Nikolaus Meyer who serves as the company's CEO. Other members of the management team are COO Ruediger Stroh, formerly operations manager for NXP's wafer fab in Boeblingen, and Chief Manufacturing Officer Ulfert Ruehle, who joined the company after having gathered experience at Shell Solar in Camarillo, California.
