The sun is an appealing way for the United States to meet its energy needs. With additional investments, Sungevity (News - Alert) is helping that goal to become a reality.

Sungevity raised an additional $15 million in a recent funding round. The Series C funding was led by existing investors Greener Capital and Firelake Capital. Also leading the round was new investor, Brightpath Capital Partners, an Oakland, Calif., impact investment fund. Sungevity says it has now raised over $25 million.

The money will be used to increase the presence of solar energy in U.S. homes during 2011, according to a company statement carried on TMCnet.

"Broader resources will allow this company to serve an exploding market for solar leases, enabling more U.S. homeowners to get the benefits of solar without having to front the full cost of their systems," said board member A. George "Skip" Battle, who also is a member of the boards of Netflix, LinkedIn (News - Alert) and OpenTable. "Continued support from existing and new investors is a testament to the success of Sungevity's unique and highly efficient Internet business model."  

The rate of North American solar installations is expected to double during next year, according to IDC (News - Alert) Energy Insights.

Companies that offer power purchase agreements (PPAs) to residential and commercial property owners and solar leasing will increase their market share to over 50 percent, IDC predicts.

Sungevity's position in residential solar grew from 0.4 percent of the California market to 2.9 percent. The company says these percentages make it “the fastest growing solar company in the United States.” It also has less capital invested than many of its rivals.

Sungevity has more than tripled its staff in 2010.

"We've made it easy and affordable for the average homeowner to switch to solar with our unique online sales process and best-in-breed solar lease," said Danny Kennedy, founder of Sungevity. "We're now removing the last barriers to mass adoption of solar electricity across the US."

Sungevity expanded into a number of new markets recently such as: Southern California, Arizona and Colorado.

“We’re looking to go to many states next year and basically get a national footprint. We’re really looking at the northeast,” Kennedy told VentureBeat.

The use of solar power is growing rapidly. Ten years ago, there were just 500 home solar rooftops in California. Today, that number is over 60,000 and California is well on its way to reaching its goal of one million solar roofs by 2018, according to the Sungevity website.

The company has worked with over 1,000 households to go with solar power.