eSolar, a producer of scalable solar thermal power plants, has closed $130 million in funding from Idealab, Google.org, Oak Investment Partners and other investors for the construction and deployment of prefabricated power plants.
Designed to address the complex issues surrounding large or utility-scale power projects, eSolar's distributed solar thermal plants achieve economies of scale at 33 MW and are modularly scaled to fit the needs of large and small utilities.
‘The eSolar power plant is based on mass-manufactured components and designed for rapid construction, uniform modularity and unlimited scalability,’ says Asif Ansari, CEO of eSolar. ‘Rather than over-engineering the solution, eSolar's smart scalable solar architecture targets what we see as the four key business obstacles facing the sector: price, scalability, rapid deployment and grid impact.’
eSolar says it has secured land rights in the southwest U.S. to support the production and transmission of over 1 GW of power. The company will have a fully operational power plant later this year in Southern California.
