Geostellar has received $2 million in funding at the same time it has patented an invention. The patent is for a system that programmatically places solar panels on rooftops or tracts of land in a 3D virtual world and simulates production over a typical meteorological year based on shading, slope and orientation. It uses the data to develop a Solar Profile, which describes the economic benefits of solar energy for each individual home.
Washington, D.C.-based Geostellar, which calls itself the nation’s “first and largest online solar energy marketplace,” works to simplify procurement, financing, installation, and maintenance for solar developers and financiers. The goal is to lower soft costs, which can make up around 60 percent of the total cost of installing solar for residential customers, for both the sell side and buy side. Its system, called Solar Mojo, pulls in satellite data to create visualizations of rooftops, presenting a snapshot of their solar potential. Installers can also pull in available incentives and utility rates to bring another layer of information.
The company also recently closed a $2 million Series AA round of funding, CEO David Levine told CleantechIQ. The money came primarily from DC-area angel investors, he said. In April 2014, the startup raised $1 million through the social enterprise crowdfunding site Return on Change.
Geostellear t has now raised approximately $18 million in funding since launching in 2011, including $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot program, which aims in part to fund companies that lower solar soft costs.