HelioFocus raises $10m from China's Sanhua and IC Green Energy

HelioFocus Ltd., an Israel-based solar thermal systems start-up, has raised more than $10 million from China's Zhejiang Sanhua Co. and existing investor IC Green Energy.

HelioFocus announced the investment last week at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, where HelioFocus is developing its solar thermal technology to boost electricity production of existing power plants.

HelioFocus CEO Ory Zik said Sanhua, the Chinese maker of appliance components whose stock is traded on the Shenzhen stock exchange, would be not just a financial investor in the company, but will also produce some solar thermal components.

"We will be able to reduce costs and move relatively quickly to manufacturing," Zik told Reuters. "Components that can be made at lower cost in China will be produced there."

Sanhua, which will hold 30 percent of HelioFocus, will invest $9.25 million directly in the company and will acquire $1.25 million worth of shares from its founders.

IC Green Energy, the renewable energy investment arm of holding company Israel Corp, is the largest shareholder in HelioFocus with a 40 percent stake. It will invest $2.3 million in HelioFocus alongside Sanhua's investment.

The rest of HelioFocus is held by workers and management, including Sass Somekh, Co-Chairman of HelioFocus and Founder of Musea Ventures.

In 2008, HelioFocus raised a $10 million first round of financing from IC Green Energy, and the company is also a recipient of an $800,000 BIRD Foundation grant. The current investment from Sanhua and IC Green Energy values HelioFocus at $45 million.

Zik said HelioFocus, whose system converts the sun's rays into hot air to produce electricity, will release its first product in 2012 and is working on a pilot project in Israel. Funds raised from Sanhua will be used by HelioFocus to continue its research.

"We believe that the thermo-solar market will grow significantly, together with the rapid global development and ongoing legislation in the clean energy market," Yom Tov Samia, Co-Chairman of HelioFocus and president and CEO of IC Green Energy, said in a statement.

Jacky Eldan, Israeli consul general in China, said the door opened by Sanhua will pave the way for more cooperation and investments of Chinese companies in Israel.

HelioFocus' financing announcement is the latest in a series of successes for Israeli solar thermal companies. Siemens AG bought Israel-based Solel Solar Systems Ltd. for about $418 million in October 2009, AORA Solar raised $5 million in February 2009, and BrightSource Energy, which conducts R&D through subsidiary BrightSource Industries Israel, has announced a series of mega projects in the U.S. over the past year

Congrulations to Ory Zik and the rest of the team at HelioFocus!

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DOE awards grants to HelioFocus, Tigo Energy, TransBiodiesel and Motorola Israel for U.S.-Israel energy projects

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the award of $3.3 million in grants for four U.S.-Israel cooperative clean energy projects. The projects were selected by the BIRD Foundation and will be funded by the DOE and Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructures.

The four projects will leverage private sector cost-share for a total project value of $11.6 million:

HelioFocus Ltd., based in Ness Ziona, Israel and Capstone Turbine Corporation, based in Chatsworth, California have been selected for an award of up to $800,000. HelioFocus and Capstone Turbine will develop and commercialize a micro-turbine to produce electric power from concentrated solar energy. This project includes $2.1 million in private sector cost-share. IC Green Energy invested in HelioFocus last year, and this blog reported on HelioFocus' cooperation with Capstone Turbine back in August 2008.

Motorola Israel Ltd., based in Tel Aviv, Israel and SmartSynch, Inc., based in Jackson, Mississippi have been selected for an award of up to $900,000. Motorola Israel and SmartSynch will collaborate in the development and commercialization of a platform to enable implementation of a Smart Grid energy management system. This project will integrate Home Area Network and Smart Grid network management software applications to give utilities greater control while allowing end-users the ability to monitor and control consumption. This project includes $2.8 million in private sector cost-share.

Tigo Energy, based in Kfar Saba, Israel and U.S. Architectural Glass and Aluminum Co., Inc., based in Alameda, California have been selected for an award of up to $900,000. This project will support the development and integration of a complete Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system. The partnership will seek to overcome the cost, standardization, generation performance, visibility, and safety challenges that currently hinder large scale adoption of BIPV. This project includes $2.3 million in private sector cost-share. Earlier this year, Tigo Energy announced a $10 million Series B financing from Israel Cleantech Ventures, Matrix Partners, OVP and Clal Energy.

TransBiodiesel Ltd., based in Shfar-Am, Israel and The Purolite Company, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania have been selected for an award of up to $700,000. This project seeks to design a biocatalyst comprised of methanol-resistant lipase immobilized on a cost-effective resin for the production of biodiesel at commercial scales. Lipase biocatalysts offer significant advantages over traditional catalysts used for biodiesel production including lifecycle efficiency gains and consistent product quality, but are currently high-cost and suffer from short operation life-time as they are degraded during the biodiesel production process. This project includes $1.2 million in private sector cost-share. This is TransBiodiesel's second BIRD Foundation grant -- in 2008, it was awarded a grant to partner with Rohm & Hass on biodiesel production.

The projects are expected to begin in 2010.

The BIRD Foundation promotes cooperation between Israeli and U.S. companies in various technology areas and assists in identifying strategic partners in both countries, in order to develop and commercialize novel technologies and products.

The BIRD Foundation supports projects without receiving any rights in the participating companies or in the project itself. The financial assistance is repaid as royalties from sales. The Foundation provides support of up to 50% of a project's budget, beginning with R&D and ending with the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares the risk and does not demand that the investment be repaid if the project fails to reach the sales stage.

The BIRD Energy program is the result of the U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act, which was enacted in December 2007 and formally launched at the Eilat-Eilot Energy Conference in February 2009.

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IC Green Energy invests in HelioFocus

Published reports confirm that IC Green Energy, the cleantech investment subsidiary of Israel Corp., has invested in solar thermal startup HelioFocus Ltd. I first reported on the possibility that HelioFocus was an IC Green Energy portfolio company in a post several weeks ago.

According to Globes, IC Green Energy contributed $10 million out of the $20 million that HelioFocus raised in its latest financing round. Ha'aretz, however, reports that IC Green Energy purchased control of HelioFocus for $5 to $6 million.



Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Ness Ziona, Israel, HelioFocus is engaged in the development of modular, high efficiency Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems. These systems will convert sunlight to grid electricity using parabolic solar concentrators.

Prof. Sass Somekh, a veteran of Applied Materials and a founder of Musea Ventures, is the Executive Chairman of HelioFocus. The company's technology is reportedly based on the research of Prof. Jacob Karni of the Weizmann Institute. Dr. Ory Zik is the CEO of HelioFocus.

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HelioFocus orders microturbines for concentrated solar power systems

Capstone Turbine Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced last week that it had received an order from Israeli startup HelioFocus for the development and modification of Capstone Turbine's C65 MicroTurbine to operate on solar energy.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Ness Ziona, Israel, HelioFocus Ltd. is engaged in the development of modular, high efficiency Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems. These systems will convert sunlight to grid electricity using a parabolic solar concentrator to focus the sun's energy into a solar receiver that provides enough heat energy to drive Capstone's modified turbine and power electronics.

HelioFocus does not have a web site, and little information about the company is publicly available. According to one web post, HelioFocus is a portfolio company of IC Green Energy, the cleantech investment subsidiary of Israel Corp.

The company's technology is apparently based on the research of Prof. Jacob Karni of the Weizmann Institute, located in nearby Rehovot. Indeed, Yeda, the Weizmann Institute's technology transfer office, reveals that Prof. Karni has developed a high efficiency concentrated solar receiver available for licensing.

I wrote about IC Green Energy, and the investment strategy of Yom Tov Samia, its Director, back in May.

Under the initial phase of development, Capstone will make modifications to the existing microturbine to operate on superheated air and integrate the microturbine with the HelioFocus solar concentrator system.

Capstone Turbine has been evaluating product development opportunities to combine the benefit of the microturbine and solar concentrator technologies. The traditional Capstone microturbine engine uses gaseous or liquid fuels to heat combustion air. The HelioFocus Solar Concentrator focuses enough sunlight energy to provide an equivalent amount of combustion heat to drive the microturbine. This fuel free renewable solution offers higher solar conversion efficiencies over traditional solar photovoltaic systems, the company said. In addition the increased power density of this system should reduce the amount of required real estate for siting these systems.

"Our company's current focus is continued product development through strategic partnerships with forward looking companies," said Dr. Ory Zik, one of the Founders and CEO of HelioFocus. "Utilizing Capstone's microturbine, our mutual goal is to develop a system that can operate entirely on sunlight."

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