Ausra Inc., the developer of utility-scale solar thermal power technology, has secured more than $40 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firms Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (KPCB).
Ausra's power plants are designed to drive steam turbines with sunshine. Ausra's core technology, the Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector solar steam generation system, was originally conceived in the early 1990s by founder David Mills while at Sydney University. Mills later worked with Graham Morrison to develop the idea between 1995 and 2001.
"Solar thermal power is the main event in renewable energy, and Ausra has the deep expertise and a simple, yet effective, design to fully capitalize on the opportunity to deliver the majority of our future power needs," says Ray Lane, a partner in KPCB and an Ausra board member.
Ausra is headquartered in Davis, Calif.
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