Infinia to launch concentrated solar generator this year

Power systems company Infinia Corporation has announced plans to launch its first solar technology before the end of this year after securing $50m (£25.5m) in venture funding this week.

Infinia specialises in Stirling Engines, low-maintenance energy generators which work by heating one end of a gas-filled cylinder containing a piston that is driven as the gas expands and cools.

The technology is typically used in combined heat and power (CHP) generators to turn waste heat into electricity, and in applications that require highly reliable low-maintenance electricity, such as military and space technologies.

However, since 2005 the company has been working on a solar system that uses a satellite dish-style solar panel to concentrate heat from the sun on the Stirling Engine, which in turn generates electricity. It claims the Infinia Solar System produces up to 3KW of grid-quality AC power and could be deployed either in large-scale solar farms or on customer sites at reasonable cost.

Infinia president and chief executive JD Sitton said the funding round, which was led by GLG Partners and supported by Khosla Ventures and Vulcan Capital among others, represented a "very important turning point" for the company. He added that the cash injection meant the company was "clearly on track" to begin manufacturing and selling the solar system later this year.