Solar PV component supplier Enecsys has secured a further £25 million in equity financing to invest in its growth plan.
The company develops, manufacturers and markets grid-connected solar micro inverters and monitoring systems for residential and commercial applications. Solar inverters convert the DC power produced by solar photovoltaic (PV) modules into AC power for supply to the electricity grid.

Enecsys has launched its products in Europe and North America and the latest financing has been arranged to facilitate 'substantial expected growth'.

Climate Change Capital Private Equity led this Series B equity financing with an investment of £11 million. The balance of £14 million, was secured from the existing Enecsys investors, Wellington Partners, NES Partners (formerly known as Bankinvest New Energy Solutions) and Good Energies, who together previously invested £8.5 million in Enecsys in a Series A financing in 2009. The latest financing round represents the largest private equity raise in the European cleantech sector so far this year.

Enecsys micro inverters are installed on the rail behind solar modules, either one inverter per solar module or one for every two modules. The Enecsys micro inverter is said to enable solar PV systems to harvest between 5 and 20 per cent more energy which, Enecsys claims, makes planning and installation of PV systems easier and safer due to the elimination of high voltage DC wiring.

Mossadiq Umedaly, Enecsys' executive chairman, said: 'We chose Climate Change Capital Private Equity, one of the largest and most experienced investors in clean power, because of their excellent fit with us and they have decided to invest in Enecsys after a thorough investigation of our business strategy, technology and product road map, management team and future prospects. We welcome Climate Change Capital Private Equity to our strong investor team and board. We also appreciate the confidence shown by our existing investors who have again participated in such a significant way in this financing round.'

Simon Drury, a partner at Climate Change Capital Private Equity, who will join the board of Enecsys, commented: 'The ability for Enecsys to provide high performance, cost effective micro inverters with the reliability and life expectancy to match that of solar modules fundamentally changes the economic model of solar PV and will play an important role in growing the market for this clean power source. We are delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the company's success.'

Bart Markus of Wellington Partners, an existing Enecsys investor, added: 'We are pleased with the progress that Enecsys has made since our initial investment in 2009, and the opportunity the market currently presents to Enecsys is huge; as of today Enecsys has the only certified micro inverter solution in production in the European market, which represents 75% of the world's residential solar market - this round of funding will allow us to accelerate the execution of this opportunity.'

Henrik Raunkjaer, Enecsys' CEO, commented: 'The resources from this financing will be used to execute our growth strategy by accelerating our product development and cost reduction plan and expanding our global presence in sales, marketing, customer service and manufacturing to serve every major market.'

• Founded in 2003, its patented technology was originally developed at Cambridge University. The UK headquarters are in Cambridge, with sales and support offices in Bad Homburg, Germany and in Redwood Shores, California, USA. For more information, please visit: www.enecsys.com