Solar Power Partners Adds $32 Million

Solar Power Partners, a company that manages solar energy facilities, has raised $32 million in new funding, peHUB has learned. A company spokesperson confirmed the round, and said the investment was split between working capital and project financing.

Last September, the company announced it had raised $100 million in private equity and debt financing. It also expected to close another $60 million in project financing before the end of the year.

Investors include United Commercial Bank, Globespan Capital Partners, Energy Investors Funds, The Enlightened World Foundation, Carrelton Asset Management, Dry Creek Ventures and Silicon Valley Technology Group.

The Mill Valley, Calif.-based company develops a distributed network of mid-size commercial solar energy facilities that is remotely managed from a central location. It tries to make solar power a managed service instead of a large capital expenditure.

In January, it installed a 385-kilowatt set of solar panels across four buildings in the Hunters Point/Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. It then signed a power purchase agreement with the buildings’ owners to provide electricity at a set rate.

Venture capitalists were bullish on solar in 2008, backing 69 companies with $2.35 billion, according to Thomson Reuters (publisher of PEHub.com). A number of solar deals have already received financing this year despite the downturn in venture financing that has affected every other industry.