Silicon ‘Ink' Lights Up a Deal

Dupont snatches up Silicon Valley solar company

A Silicon Valley startup in the solar space just got its own spotlight.  

Innovalight, a Sunnyvale company that makes what it calls "Silicon Ink" to improve the efficiency and performance of solar cells, is being bought up by science and tech giant DuPont.  After working quietly on its technology, Innovalight is quiet no more - this is a big step.

Much like the biotech arena, where large pharma companies often circle - and eventually buy - their smaller Silicon Valley brethren, the solar world is also acting like Major League Baseball:  Large tech companies, wanting desperately to get into the green revolution, are scoping out Valley startups to fund, or, in the case of Innovalight, buy outright.

DuPont, to be fair, is no newcomer to the solar world.  The company hauled in a cool billion dollars last year from the photovoltaic market, and should expand further with its purchase of Innovalight.  For Innovalight itself, already a success story in Bay Area solar circles, the deal should raise its - and the industry's - profile by quite a bit.

Scott can be reached on Twitter:  @scottbudman

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