Zep Solar Raises $7.4M In Equity Investment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Christina Manansala
Phone: (415) 479-6900

Zep Solar Raises $7.4M In Equity Investment

By Zep Solar, Inc. 9/30/10

Zep Solar, Inc., developer of the solar industry’s leading rail-free installation platform, today announced the closing of a $7.4 million series A funding round. The round was led by Aquillian Investments, LLC, an investment firm that is exclusively focused on sustainability. Participants in the round also included multiple family office investment funds and private investors. “The round was oversubscribed and received significant interest from the investment community,” said company Founder and CEO, Jack West. “We’re pleased to be partnering with Aquillian Investments. We value their experience in clean tech investment and their strong commitment to funding environmentally-sustainable businesses.”

Proceeds from the financing are expected to be used to expand distribution, to widen product lines to address additional applications and markets, and to continue to grow adoption of the Zep Groove module frame specification. Under a licensing program, PV module manufacturers agree to engineer Zep Solar’s unique, channel-like groove into their solar module frames, allowing the modules to quickly mate with Zep Solar’s cost-saving, interlocking line of PV installation hardware. The system eliminates the need for bulky rails, and reduces labor costs by as much as 50%.

“Since our US residential product announcement in October of 2009, we’ve received enormous demand for products that are optimized for both residential and commercial applications. We’ve also experienced strong demand from top-20 PV manufacturers interested in licensing the Zep Groove module frame specification. Our funding will enable us to scale our operations to meet this demand and to continue to innovate around our core technology,” said Zep Solar President, Mike Miskovsky.

Zep’s patented system delivers the industry’s first comprehensive platform for PV installation, overcoming current products’ limitations in the areas of design, structure, grounding, wire management, security, and aesthetics. It eliminates the need for conventional mounting rails and separate grounding hardware by utilizing compact, easy-to-use hardware that locks into the grooves of Zep Compatible PV modules. These connections provide both structural and grounding bonds, and radically reduce the time needed to install PV arrays.

Earlier this year, Canadian Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) began shipping its ground-breaking NewEdge PV module, the first Zep Compatible PV module on the market. “We believe the Zep System is the industry’s most significant innovation in the area of PV installation and we’re incredibly excited to be the first to offer a Zep Compatible PV module,” said ­­­­Alan King, VP of Sales for Canadian Solar.

“Typical racking products tend to serve regional markets because of lack of differentiation and high shipping costs for bulky components. In contrast, Zep Solar offers a compact, patented product that offers novel attributes and scales well for global markets,” said James Everett of Aquillian Investments. “We are pleased to be supporting a company with such a talented management team, introducing a compelling, innovative, and timely product to a marketplace that dearly needs it,” said Everett.
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About Zep Solar

Zep Solar, Inc. is an innovative manufacturer of new-generation PV mounting technology based in San Rafael, CA and offers the world’s first comprehensive platform for PV system integration. Zep Solar is accelerating the adoption of solar technology by drastically reducing the costs associated with designing, shipping, warehousing, and installing PV systems. To learn more about Zep Solar, visit www.zepsolar.com .

Corporate Offices: 161 Mitchell Blvd. Suite 104, San Rafael, CA 94903
Telephone: (415) 479-6900
Fax: (415) 479-6901

This release was published on openPR.