Oakland-Based Planted Solar Lands $12 Million to Rethink Solar Deployment at Scale

Planted Solar, a fast-growing solar technology company based in Oakland, California, has secured $12 million in fresh funding to scale its innovative solar deployment platform. The round was led by Piva Capital, with continued backing from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Team Builder Ventures. The capital injection will help Planted accelerate product development, expand its deployment capabilities and build strategic partnerships in markets around the world.

At the helm is CEO Eric Brown, who says the company is not just building solar infrastructure; it is reshaping how solar energy is deployed. Planted combines hardware and software into a single, streamlined platform that makes solar installations faster, cheaper, and more flexible. Their systems use high-density, terrain-following arrays that adapt to uneven landscapes, paired with automation that simplifies the installation process.

The impact of this approach is hard to ignore. Projects can be delivered in half the time, while developers and energy producers get more output from less land. Costs are reduced across the board, from materials to logistics, without compromising performance.

Here are some of the key advantages Planted Solar is delivering:

• A 50 per cent reduction in land use compared to traditional systems

• Arrays that adapt to slopes as steep as 27 per cent, unlocking rugged terrains.

• A twofold increase in deployment speed, which is a game-changer for high-demand sectors like manufacturing and data centres

• Up to 70 per cent less steel needed, leading to lower structural and transport costs

• A 30 per cent drop in the cost of energy, improving margins and ROI for developers and investors alike

With demand for clean energy on the rise and land becoming increasingly constrained, Planted Solar’s integrated approach presents a compelling solution. The company is betting that efficiency, adaptability and speed will be the cornerstones of the next wave of solar infrastructure, and with this latest round of funding, it is ready to take that bet global.