Midsummer unveils 500 W rooftop panel

CIGS turnkey equipment supplier Midsummer has launched a 500 W solar panel it says is particularly suitable for large roofs.

The Swedish manufacturer stated in a press release, it is adapting its production line to make large volumes of the Magnum product. “This is just a first module and commercial production will commence shortly,” the company told pv magazine. Midsummer said the 144-cell panel offers 14.54% efficiency and power output of 3.472 W per cell and 128.3 W per square meter. No further technical details were revealed.

Midsummer said the product requires less manual installation work and reduced costs associated with connection boxes, insulation and encapsulation material, driving further savings in rooftop system costs.

“The improved coverage ratio means our best power-per-square-meter yet and the natural application will be on buildings with [a] large roof area,” said Midsummer CEO Sven Lindström.

The solar manufacturer separately announced it has introduced a production process which can increase a cell power output by around 10% while giving its products a more discreet look. The Power Mesh Technology (PMT) technique is said to rely on a dense array of wires – rather than standard ribbons – for current collection, ensuring lower resistive losses in panels. “The PMT solar panels have a larger active area and less shading, resulting in higher current,” said Midsummer.