SoloPower’s proprietary electrochemical process for CIGS solar.

Flexible solar panels are less efficient, but offers some advantages over classic solar panels. Especially when it comes to pose them on the flat roof without a special equipment, because lightweight and can be installed quickly on commercial buildings with flat roofs.

Solopower is another CIGS solar panel makers out there. After Nanosolar and others, so here is SoloPower.

There are three primary types of thin-film solar cells that have been commercially developed:

  • amorphous silicon (a-Si)
  • cadmium telluride (CdTe) and
  • copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) based devices.

Compare different versions here:

Technology
Maximum Demonstrated Efficiency for small cells*
Advantages
Disadvantages
a-Si
12.2%
  • Mature manufacturing technology
  • Low efficiency
  • High cost equipment
CdTe
16.5%
  • Low cost manufacturing
  • Medium efficiency
  • Rigid glass substrate only
CIGS
19.9%
  • High efficiency
  • Glass or flexible substrates
  • Film uniformity challenge on large substrates
  • Costly traditional processes

Unique Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing Process.
SoloPower’s roll-to-roll manufacturing process offers unique cost advantages including low capital expenditures, high line throughput and excellent material utilization. This low cost structure combined with the optimized product design creates an unbeatable value proposition. SoloPower uses a roll-to-roll electrodeposition process, as opposed to the sputtering, printing or evaporation processes used by most CIGS vendors.

Efficient Flexible Solar power panels

SoloPower earlier this year said that it had achieved 11 percent efficiency for its panels, which is relatively good compared with other CIGS makers.

SoloPower is not building “glass sandwich” panels.  According to Harris, the CEO, they’ve “been there, done that.”   Rather, SoloPower is targeting the commercial and industrial flat-roof market with applications that favor a lightweight, non-penetrating solar solution.  The SoloPower panel can be rolled up and walked on.

Flexible Solar panels CIGS based

Source: SoloPower

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