Midsummer

Soprasolar has revealed plans to integrate Midsummer’s thin-film solar panels into its roof membranes, offering solar panels to customers whose rooftops cannot withstand the weight of silicon panels.

The perovskite solar race is heating up, with a cue of manufacturers forming to test products at the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) PV commercialization facilities, and academics on both sides of The Pond announcing new advances in recent months.

Midsummer and researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), say that their new tandem PV cell is suitable for the company’s Duo production equipment, which makes 56 mm x 156 mm CIGS cells on a flexible stainless steel substrate.

The factory will be built with the financial support of the Italian government. It will mostly serve southern European markets.

The Swiss group has acquired an integrated solar roof system solution from an unidentified German engineering service provider for this purpose. The aim is grow this sector from a niche market.

The production equipment was bought by Russian nanotechnology specialist Rusnano. The line will be used to produce BIPV modules at a factory in the Republic of Mordovia.

Through this new project, the Swedish CIGS turnkey equipment supplier aims to expand its presence in southern European PV markets.

The 18-meter long solar cell-clad trailer is said to enable fuel savings of 5-10% in Sweden. Swedish thin-film manufacturer Midsummer is a partner on the project.

The Swedish PV equipment supplier has launched Midsummer Magnum, a solar module for large rooftops. The manufacturer says the panel offers 14.54% efficiency and an output of 128.3 W per square meter. The company also unveiled a manufacturing process it claims can increase module output 10%.

The Swedish PV equipment supplier recorded an operating loss of roughly $513,000 in the first quarter of 2019, from an operating profit in the preceding three-month period. Net sales reached approximately $1.94 million.