Dresden organic solar cell firm Heliatek is receiving $27m in a second round of financing, in a round led by Wellington Partners.
Heliatek will use the cash to build an initial production facility in Dresden.
"In this step, and right through to mass production, the company will be using its proprietary tandem technology to produce efficiently, flexible and lightweight photovoltaic modules on a film substrate," said Heliatek.
Weight is claimed to be 500g/m[super2] and the firm is aiming at mobile applications, architectural installations, and as power sources in regions with poor infrastructure.
The firm uses small molecule organic dyes, and more than one at a tie to broaden the absorbed spectrum.
"In August 2009, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems certified a power conversion efficiency of 6.1% for a solar cell of this type from Heliatek," said the Dresden firm.
Along with Wellington, investors include: Bosch, RWE Innogy Ventures, BASF Venture Capital, the High-Tech-Grunderfonds, eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners, the Technologiegrunderfonds Sachsen Start-up and GP Bullhound Sidecar.
"Over the course of the past two years, Heliatek has made impressive progress in terms of the efficiency and service life of its organic solar cells," said Bosch v-p of research Dr Alexander Flaig, speaking for the investors. "The time has now come to also show just how cost-efficiently these cells can be manufactured under industrial conditions. This round of financing will enable the company to execute this step."
Heliatek is a 2006 spin-off from the Universities of Dresden and Ulm.