A bit of solar tech investment and funding news to hit Greenbang’s inbox this morning – Taiwanese polysilicon wafer manufacturer Sino-American Silicon Product (SAS), is to invest €30m in emerging Italian solar-grade polysilicon producer Silfab.

Silfab says it plans to use the funds for its polysilicon manufacturing plant in Turin, which is tipped to being production of up to 5,000 metric tonnes per year of “ultra high quality 9N grade polysilicon” by the end of 2009.

On top of the investment SAS has signed a long-term contract for 500 tonnes per year of ultra-pure polysilicon for six years from 2010.

Silfab chairman and CEO Franco Traverso and strategic partner Pan Asia Solar invested the initial €54m in Silfab last month and SAS’ injection brings the total equity capital raised to €84m.

Doris Hsu, president of SAS, said in a statement:

“Finding reliable, high-quality producers of polysilicon has been a significant challenge for many fast-growing companies in the solar industry, and we believe that this will continue to be true in the future. Our investment in Silfab provides SAS with a fast-growing partner capable of providing a high-purity solution to meet this challenge.”

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