SmartTrak plans to raise $25 mn for expansion

Solar tracking systems manufacturer SmartTrak today said it is planning to raise USD 25 million (about Rs 165 crores)through private equity funding for its expansion plans in India and overseas market.
The city-based company is in talks with investors in the US and the funds raised will be utilised for its expansion plans, including scaling up manufacturing of solar micro- inverters.
"We are planning to raise USD 25 million. We are in talks with US-based private equity investors and are hopeful of closing the deal in the next three months," Bhagawan Reddy Gnanapa, CEO and director of SmartTrak, told reporters here.

"So far, we have invested Rs 10 crore. We will set up offices abroad and launch the SmartTrak micro-inverter brand in the US and African markets by March 2016," he said.
The company today announced the launch of indigenously built solar micro-inverter for residential and commercial market segment.
The newly introduced rooftop solar micro-inverter is a device that converts direct current (DC) generated by an individual solar panel to alternating current (AC). For utilising the E-Metering feature, the output from individual micro-inverters is combined and fed to the electrical grids.

The company expects to close the current financial year with a revenue of Rs 140 crore. It has so far installed 50 MWp tracking systems and 120 MW projects are under execution, Reddy said.

"We expect SmartTrak micro-inverter brand to contribute 10 per cent to our sales target of Rs 140 crore by March 2016," he said.
SmartTrak also plans to ship 5,000 micro inverters in the next quarter. It has a manufacturing facility to serve 30-MW solar capacity at the Hardware Technology Park near Hyderabad.
Engineers Sameer Garg and Tathagata Mitra who have contributed to the product development, said that the current 300 Watt rooftop solar micro-inverter is designed to take the first step towards making a cost effective solar power harvesting system for home applications.