Ascent Solar Inc. — a Thornton-based solar-cell manufacturer facing a rising deficit — said Wednesday it plans to raise about $36 million through a stock sale.
As of June, Ascent, which is developing a unique flexible, thin-film solar cell, had a $34 million deficit, according to a filing it made Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said stock-sale monies will be used to expand production and for “general corporate purposes.”
“That’s likely to be money for everything from new equipment to keeping the lights on,” said Daniel Englander, an analyst in San Francisco with market-research firm Greentech Media. “Ascent is developing a product for which there still isn’t a market, so they have to keep going until that market develops.”
Ascent executives could not be reached for comment.
Ascent is developing a solar cell made by applying a thin film of copper, indium, gallium and selenide to a plastic roll.
These solar cells could be integrated into a variety of products from roof tiles to consumer goods such as beach bags.
Ascent is building a new factory in Thornton at a projected cost of about $65 million for land, building improvements and equipment, according to a separate company SEC filing.
In a September interview, Ascent chief executive Farhad Moghadam said the facility will be operating in early 2010.
“By the second half of 2010, we will be in a positive-cash-flow position,” Moghadam said.
Still, the company’s stock prospectus cautions: “We expect to incur net losses for the foreseeable future.”
Among the keys to profitability is raising production to increase cash flow, the stock prospectus says. Ascent plans to sell 4 million shares of common stock, assuming an offering price equal to Tuesday’s closing price of $7.85 a share, the prospectus said.
Norsk Hydro Produksjon AS, the Swedish aluminum supplier that is Ascent’s largest shareholder, will buy $5 million in restricted stock in a private sale.
Ascent’s market capitalization is $159 million. The stock sale would dilute shareholder value by about 19 percent. Mark Jaffe, The Denver Post
