Bloo Solar lands funding, seeks more (Sacramento)

Bloo Solar Inc. is designing a solar cell the size of DNA that could drop the cost of solar power by 75 percent — and already has attracted millions of dollars from investors and given the company hopes of landing $20 million more later this year.

And despite the economic downturn, the West Sacramento solar development company is poised to move this summer to a facility that’s 10 times the size of its current home and hire more employees.

“I think they are probably one of the best kept secrets and have the potential to become a giant company,” said Gilles Attia, outside counsel for Bloo Solar.

If Bloo Solar is successful with its vertically structured solar cells that harness the sun’s energy from any angle — not just during peak hours between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. — the price of solar power would drop by 75 percent to about 5 cents a kilowatt-hour. Utilities charge between 12 cents and 14 cents a kilowatt-hour for grid power. No subsidies would be needed.

“We’re trying to get solar cost down to the same cost of coal and nuclear,” said Larry Bawden, Bloo Solar’s chief executive officer.

Solar power currently costs between 16 and 22 cents a kilowatt-hour, he said.

Founded in June 2005, Bloo Solar has yet to produce revenue. It hopes to take its nanorod technology to manufacturing by late 2012.

Last week, Bloo Solar closed on a $2 million bridge round of financing led by Acadia Woods Partners LLC, a New York-based investor that focuses on early stage technology companies, Bawden said.

Read the full story in the Sacramento Business Journal.