LOWELL, Mass. – Total Gas & Power Ltd., the French oil and gas giant, has invested $45 million in the Bay State solar energy company Konarka Technologies Inc., the companies announced recently.
The December 2008 deal means Total is now Konarka’s largest shareholder, with the French company owning nearly 20 percent of the Lowell, Mass.-based organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar firm.
As part of the deal, Konarka said it will develop new components for products made by Total’s chemical subsidiaries – Atotech, Bostik, Hutchinson, Sartomer and Total Petrochemicals USA.
Konarka began operations earlier this fall at a 257,000-square-foot, roll-to-roll, thin-film solar manufacturing facility located in the former Polaroid complex in New Bedford. •
