MiaSolé finds a buyer

MiaSolé, a Santa Clara solar start-up that makes thin-film photovoltaic solar panels, has been sold to Hanergy Holding for roughly $30 million. The Beijing-based company is the largest non-state-owned provider of renewable power in China.

The news was first reported by David Baker of the San Francisco Chronicle (nice scoop, David!); a source close to the company confirmed the deal Saturday. MiaSolé will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Hanergy.

In March, MiaSolé announced it had raised another $55 million to “drive its next wave of growth.” The fact that it sold for less than half that amount means that investors took quite a hit. In August, the company signaled that it was looking for a strategic partner. The fact that the partner is based in China isn’t a big surprise.

The company’s board of directors includes several of Silicon Valley’s clean tech heavyweights: John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Stephan Dolezalek of VantagePoint Venture Partners, and Martin Lagod of Firelake Capital. SiliconBeat saw Lagod this week at REFF West, where he said that “making solar panels is not a big job creator.” http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_21646526/call-end-clean-energys-politicization. 

Dana Hull (94 Posts)

Dana Hull covers clean technology and energy policy for the San Jose Mercury News. She often writes about electric vehicles, the smart grid, the solar industry and California energy policy, from RPS goals to Gov. Jerry Brown's big dreams for distributed generation.