New Ascent Solar module weighs in at 4 pounds

Thornton, Colo.-based Ascent Solar Technologies (Nasdaq:ASTI) said today it has manufactured the first and only module on a polyimide substrate of its kind.

It’s a monolithically interconnected, 5-meter long flexible module that weighs about 4 pounds, Ascent’s Director of Investor Relations Brian Blackman told the Cleantech Group.

“It has building integrated applications on long strips on rooftops, where you have low weight bearings,” Blackman said.

The company develops thin-film photovoltaic modules from flexible and affordable substrate materials. Its modules can be integrated into electronics, military and consumer portable power products, transportation systems, building elements and space applications.

Ascent plans to incorporate its new technology into roofing materials that roll out like carpet, which it plans to manufacture with its strategic partners in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The length of the module represents a baseline for the company’s development of large area flexible BIPV products.

“It’s a light solution that’s low cost and reduces installation costs,” said Blackman, although he couldn’t specify how much it could reduce installation costs.

The lightweight design is expected to allow the module to be hand-carried if needed, as opposed to glass modules that have to be hoisted with a crane across rooftops. The module can produce 123 watts under standard test conditions with an aperture area efficiency of 9.1 percent.

“This is the largest monolithically interconnected CIGS (copper indium gallium di-selenide) module on polyimide and may be the largest of any CIGS module regardless of construction,” said Ascent’s Prem Nath, senior vice president for product operations, in a news release. “The size and efficiency of this module make it a breakthrough for the emerging opportunities of flexible CIGS photovoltaic modules.”

The company’s stock closed today at $7.64, up nearly 4 percent. The company has been trading at a 52-week high of $13.40 and a low of $2.19.

The CIGS-based thin film material used in the module was manufactured using the company’s unique 1.5 megawatt roll-to-roll manufacturing line, according to the release.

The module is expected to be manufactured at the company’s new 30 MW plant under construction in Thornton, Colo., Blackman said. Production is expected to start at the more than $100 million facility at the beginning of 2010. The company’s headquarters, also in Thornton, were purchased in 2008 (see Ascent Solar buys new plant and HQ).

Other companies working in the BIPV market include United Solar Ovonic, a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq:ENER). Blackman said the company uses amorphous silicon on a stainless steel substrate, which has lower efficiencies.

United Solar Ovonic has secured numerous orders for its flexible, thin-film Uni-Solar technology (see $5.8 million UNI-SOLAR BIPV order from Unimetal in Italy, Uni-Solar lands $15M German order and New $9m Air Force contract for UNI-SOLAR).

Global Solar Energy also produces CIGS solar cells on stainless steel (see Global Solar introduces a thin film alternative).

In contrast, Ascent Solar has developed an integrated processing technique of CIGS production on high-temperature plastic substrate. Blackman said he knows of one other small European company working in this area that’s still in the research and development phase.

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