New York Times article New Zealand’s New Zealand Solar Industry, the country’s largest solar company, has just announced a $50 million round led by Softbank and the Japanese government.
The company says it will be “inventing the future” in the field of solar energy, which will provide the country with a large amount of solar panels.
That’s not all, the company also announced a partnership with SolarWorld, which was founded in 2003, and has invested more than $1 billion in New Zealand solar companies.
Softbank’s investment in SolarWorld was announced last week, and the partnership is the first of its kind between two Japanese companies.
It also announced that it will invest in SolarPower New Zealand, which is building solar power plants in the country.
The deal is also the first in the world for Softbank, which has invested in over 600 New Zealand companies.
The companies announced the partnership at the annual meeting of the International Association of Solar Photovoltaics (ISPV) in London, which took place in July.
The first phase of the deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with the company aiming to provide solar panels for homes to cover the roofs of about 50 million people.
SolarPower says it is now aiming to have 20,000 modules on the market in New South Wales and Victoria by the time 2020 rolls around.
The solar panels are meant to last five years, and have a lifespan of about a decade.
“With our new partnership, we are going to provide New Zealanders with the best possible panels for the future,” SolarPower chief executive David Jones said.
“It’s a significant milestone for us, and we’re confident that we’ll be able to provide our customers with the highest quality, most sustainable, and energy-efficient solar panels on the planet.”
SolarWorld’s new SolarPower plant in New England is the third SolarPower-designed facility to be built in the UK.
It is the world’s largest, and employs about 10,000 people.