Phoenix-based Stirling Energy Systems has received its first big round of funding, putting the concentrating solar power company closer to reaching its goal of generating up to 1,750 megawatts of electricity in the deserts of Southern California.
The company pulled in $100 million from Dublin, Ireland’s NTR, a developer and operator in renewable energy and sustainable waste management, with NTR getting a 52 percent stake in Stirling Energy with its investment.
Stirling Energy, which previously received funding from angel investors as well as government grants, already has a pilot plant set up at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, with six concentrating solar power dishes.
Bruce Osborn, president and CEO of Stirling Energy, told the Cleantech Group that the Sandia location has given the company the experience it needs to make the move to commercialization.
“You get the sandblasting, you get the big winds that come in, you get lightning strikes, hailstorm — we had record snow a year ago — five thousand pounds of snow on the dishes.”
Unlike traditional solar thermal, which uses mirrors to heat a liquid, which in turn is piped over to a steam turbine, Stirling Energy makes the power right on the dish.
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