Energy Foundry Invests in Sistine Solar
With investment from Energy Foundry, Sistine Solar will begin offering its patented SolarSkin technology nationwide.
CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Energy Foundry is proud to announce an investment in Sistine Solar, which is scaling up deployment of its product, SolarSkin – a patented technology that transforms industrial solar panels into an elegant, design enhanced way to generate electricity. Energy Foundry, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Thin Line Capital join current angel investors in this round.
Sistine Solar helps homeowners and businesses go solar without sacrificing curb appeal. Their technology, SolarSkin, is an innovative graphic overlay that transforms any traditional solar panel into one that blends in with a roof, no matter what color, style, or pattern. Using design to capture the world's imagination, Sistine helps homes and businesses around the nation go solar with style.
"Sistine Solar is providing a sleek and affordable solution that can address aesthetic concerns for residential and commercial solar panels. The innovation lies in the elegant interplay of materials science, color science, and solar photovoltaics to achieve an unlimited range of colors and designs while still allowing a very high amount of light transmission to the underlying solar panels. We are excited to support this company's future growth and the new solar markets their innovation will unlock." - Jason Blumberg, Managing Director, Energy Foundry
"Sistine Solar is proud to welcome new equity investors Energy Foundry, MassCEC and Thin Line Capital. We strongly believe in the transformative power of design – and know that the adoption of design elements will make solar panels as ubiquitous as cars and cellphones. This new round of investment, and support from Energy Foundry, will help us expand our growing installer network and drive expansion of the company across the United States." - Senthil Balasubramanian, Founder and CEO, Sistine Solar
Aesthetics holds the potential to vastly multiply solar adoption in the US. The Department of Energy estimates that there are over 13 million households around the country that are part of Homeowner Associations (HOAs) where aesthetics is often a barrier for solar approval. SolarSkin is proud to have a 100% approval rate among HOAs in multiple states. New home building is another market segment tipped for solar success, with California having adopted the nation's first mandate requiring new homes built from 2020 to incorporate solar . Aesthetics is a primary concern for homebuilders and with other states expected to follow California's lead, Sistine is working with builders to introduce SolarSkin in new home communities.
Among homeowners, SolarSkin has a very high acceptance rating, with Sistine's surveys showing that over 98% of homeowners prefer panels that blend in with their roof color to traditional black or blue panels (see select work at http://www.sistinesolar.com/gallery).
"Aesthetic solutions for solar panels have historically struggled to take off because they have been prohibitively expensive, often double or triple the price of a traditional solar installation. Sistine has spent 5 years in deep product testing and development at multiple third-party labs such as the National Renewable Energy Lab to develop and offer SolarSkin at under a 10% premium to traditional solar. For an average homeowner, adding SolarSkin to the rest of their system costs no more than the price of a Macbook Pro," Balasubramanian says.
Sistine will use the new funds to expand its network of partner solar installers around the country. To date, the company has completed installations in 10 states, which include a wide variety of use cases including homes in HOAs, new build communities, and historic districts. The installations include roof styles and colors that span the spectrum of roof tones and shingle types. The company has received interest from over 200 solar installers nationwide and has a rapidly growing pipeline of homeowners looking to purchase SolarSkin.
"With the additional funds, we will focus heavily on building out a strong network of installers in order to fulfill homeowner demand, while also expanding our portfolio into commercial and utility-scale installations where SolarSkin can serve as an elegant branding asset," Balasubramanian shares. One example of a successful installer partnership is LA-based Bright Life Solar, which is actively offering SolarSkin to its customers in one of the hottest solar markets in the country (http://www.brightlifesolar.com/solarskin).
"Over the years we have seen tons of homeowners turn away solar simply because of their aesthetics, even if they are fully aware of the financial benefits of going solar. The SolarSkin technology created by Sistine is such an innovative and creative way to help close the gap on the customers that are missing out on the benefits of solar." - Vin Barba, Owner and Founder, Bright Life Solar
"The solar industry has grown tremendously in the last ten years, but there is still an enormous market that has been left behind. Because Sistine Solar opens a new axis of competition – around aesthetics – rather than just price and performance, they can unlock a large group of customers currently unserved by traditional technologies. We find that extremely exciting." - Aaron Fyke, Managing Partner, Thin Line Capital
About Sistine Solar
Sistine Solar brings a radically new design touch to the world of solar. Combining techniques from solar photovoltaics, color science, and cognitive sciences, the company has developed SolarSkin, a patented technology that can transform traditional solar panels into ones that can blend in with any roof, no matter what color, design or pattern. With SolarSkin, homeowners can enjoy high-efficiency panels that blend harmoniously with their rooftops. Founded at MIT, the company is based in MA and was a recipient of a prestigious $1 million DOE SunShot award. Sistine Solar's mission is to accelerate the adoption of solar through design.
http://www.sistinesolar.com
Contact: [email protected]
About Energy Foundry
Energy Foundry, a Chicago-based venture capital platform, invests in today's most promising energy innovators, and works with the world's leading energy companies to build and scale new ventures. Their approach merges venture capital with the perks of partnership and includes an arsenal of essential tools and relationships to help bring great ideas to market.
http://www.energyfoundry.com
Contact: [email protected]
Jackie Marolda
+1 312-952-4961
About Thin Line Capital
We are in the middle of a second wave of energy/sustainability investing, one where companies with low-capex solutions can serve the existing markets of solar, energy storage, grid modernization, EVs, and precision agriculture, and benefit from the tremendous successes that have already taken place. Thin Line Capital is a seed stage fund with deep entrepreneurial roots which seeks to find and support such companies.
http://www.thinlinecapital.com
SOURCE Energy Foundry
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