Solar venture 1366 raises $20M (Boston)

Solar-power technology developer 1366 Technologies Inc. has raised $20 million in a Series B financing round, the company announced Tuesday.

The Lexington, Mass.-based company, which is developing processes to manufacture high-efficiency wafers, said the funding will allow the firm to bring its technology into production "well in advance" of its original plan.

The round included new investors - Korea’s Hanwha Chemical and Europe’s Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. - along with returning investors North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners, both of Waltham.

The round brings the company’s total financing to $37.5 million to date. That includes $5.1 million raised in February and a $12.4 million round in March 2008.

Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366, said in the announcement that the company has spent the past two years "solving the key manufacturing challenges in silicon photovoltaics."

Read more in the Boston Business Journal.