Bloom Energy smells of roses with rumoured $150m funding

Ultra-secretive clean tech startup Bloom Energy is reportedly poised to scoop another $150m (£106m) in venture capital funding as it seeks to kickstart commercial production of its solid-oxide fuel cells.

Bloom has been notoriously silent about its development, but various reports claim that the company's ceramic-based solid oxide cells run on a variety of renewable fuels, including ethanol, bio-diesel, and methane generated from landfill.

Mixed with air, the fuel inputs can produce enough electricity with a single cell to power a house, while also creating hydrogen for use in other applications and generating heat.

The fuel cells will likely be created as building blocks, which can then be aggregated into multiple units for different applications, including residential, small business, commercial and industrial environments.

The fuel cells are slated to produced 50w to 200w of electricity, but can be collected into clusters providing up to two megawatts of energy. The advantage of a cluster is that individual cells can fail without stopping the flow of power altogether.

Unlike conventional hydrogen fuel cells, the solid oxide cells start up slowly, making them more suitable for base load situations than for small, rapid startup applications such as cars. They also include relatively low-cost materials, such as zirconia and nickel oxide instead of platinum.

The company, which has been previously backed by high profile clean tech VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said it is planning to raise $150m (£106m) in sixth round capital and has already booked most of the funding with Advanced Equities Investment. It has been valued at $1.45bn (£1bn).