The Export Import Bank of the US has provided a $9 million loan to a California-based firm to export thin-film solar panels to India that was used in the construction of an 11.6-MW power project in Rajasthan.
In a statement, the Bank said Miasole, a solar-energy company in Santa Clara, California, has exported thin-film solar panels to a solar photovoltaic project in Rajasthan, with the support of a $9 million direct loan from it.
The Indian borrower, Sai Maithili Power Company Private Ltd, a single-purpose solar company formed by KSK Energy Ventures, used Miasole’s high-efficiency, thin-film PV solar panels in the construction of an 11.6-MW (DC) solar PV project in Rajasthan, it said.
The recently commissioned project was built in support of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.
In 2010, Ex-Im Bank provided a $3.7-million loan to finance exports of Miasole’s thin-film PV solar panels to a solar project in Gujarat.
“Ex-Im Bank exists to help companies create and maintain American jobs through exports. This is Ex-Im’s second financing of Miasole’s exports to India, a growing market for renewable-energy goods and services,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg.
“Ex-Im Bank’s support of Miasole’s California-made solar modules for projects in India lowers the cost of capital and will enable Miasole to expand US exports and create jobs in California,” said Miasole CEO John Carrington.
Miasole is a pioneer in the development of copper indium gallium selenide thin-film PV solar panels, which are among the highest-efficiency and lowest-cost solar panels.
Due to its expanding export-related business, Miasole is doubling its workforce to 400 employees in California in 2013.