1366 Technologies Inc., an MIT spin-off that says it can sharply cut the cost of solar-power cells, has added a new investment of $10 million to aid in the construction of a factory in upstate New York.
The company also has landed sizable government backing, including a $150 million federal loan guarantee, to help build the facility in Genesee County.
1366 Technologies creates silicon wafers that are the heart of a photovoltaic cell.
Bedford-based 1366 Technologies has developed a way to form those wafers from molten silicon.
Fatima Toor, an engineering professor at the University of Iowa, said 1366 Technologies‘ survival has been a rare bright spot for government support in the solar sector.
It’s now laying the foundation for its commercial-scale New York factory, which will be capable of producing about 1 million silicon wafers per week, van Mierlo said.
Korean solar-cell manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells – part of the same conglomerate as 1366’s new investor – recently signed up to purchase about 60 percent of the new factory’s output for five years.
