British solar heat and power scale-up Naked Energy announced today that it has raised £17 million (USD$22 million) of new equity funding as part of a Series B first close, aimed at accelerating the company’s global expansion and the adoption of its solutions to decarbonize heat.

Founded in 2009, Naked Energy provides high energy density solar collectors aimed at decarbonizing heat and power in the built environment. According to the company, its solar collectors, based in its “Virtu” technology provide the highest energy density solar technology in the world, up to four times more impactful at offsetting CO2 emissions than conventional solar PV panels. Naked Energy’s products include VirtuPVT, a hybrid solar collector combining solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal (T) technology to generate both electricity and heat from a single collector, and VirtuHOT, a solar thermal collector that heats water up to 120°C.

The company has manufacturing bases in the UK and Europe, and is scheduled to start manufacturing in Dallas, Texas later this year in partnership with its U.S. distribution partner ELM Solar. Naked Energy also recently opened its first U.S. project at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, and the company said that it is on track to save 40 metric tons of carbon for the institution every year.

Christophe Williams, CEO of Naked Energy, said:

“Heating takes up over half of all energy consumed globally, and as the demand for renewable heat continues to rise, we’re committed more than ever to supporting the commercial and industrial sectors in their transition away from natural gas.”

The funding round was led by E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions (E.ON EIS), and was supported by co-investment from existing investor Barclays through its Sustainable Impact Capital.

Daniel Joisten, Head of Innovation Commercialization at E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions, said:

“Naked Energy’s solutions have distinctive and convincing value propositions. We will utilise them to help our customers, in industries such as Food & Beverage and Hospitality, to decarbonize their businesses profitably. We are looking forward to scaling our joint business activities, both from an E.ON perspective and on Naked Energy’s board of directors.”