Solar deployment solutions provider Planted Solar announced that it has raised $12 million in a new funding round, with proceeds aimed at growing its platform to help developers accelerate the buildout of solar projects.

Founded in 2020, California-based Planted Solar provides solutions aimed at helping developers and independent power producers (IPPs) deploy solar projects faster and at lower cost than typical models. The company provides an integrated software and hardware platform that streamlines project delivery, including software tools that optimize project layouts, energy models and engineering drawings, “terrain-following hardware” that significantly reduces land requirements and enables deployment on previously infeasible land by eliminating the need for site grading, and rapid installation tools including field robotics and simplified components to allow for faster builds with smaller crews.

According to Planted Solar, key benefits of its platform include 50% less land use compared to traditional solar, the ability to deploy on slopes of up to 27%, faster deployment times, as well as a 70% reduction in steel requirements, and a 30% lower cost of energy.

Eric Brown, CEO of Planted Solar, said:

“We’ve seen the headlines, but the real story is happening behind the scenes. Forward-looking developers are still moving, and we’re helping them move faster. We’re rethinking solar deployment to deliver what developers urgently need to build energy generation capacity today: less risk, better returns, and faster time to power.”

The funding round was led by energy and industrial-focused venture investor Piva Capital, with participation from existing investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Team Builder Ventures.

Planted Solar said that it will use the new capital to accelerate the development of its digital and hardware solutions, and expand deployment capacity, while the company said that it is also ramping up in international markets such as Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Mark Gudiksen, Managing Partner at Piva Capital, said:

“Solar developers don’t have a decade to solve these problems—the crunch is happening right now. Planted Solar’s platform clears some of the industry’s biggest roadblocks by making it faster and cheaper to get projects in the ground. This is exactly the kind of pragmatic innovation the energy transition needs.”