Order Focus: Ascent Solar to supply FTL Solar with $6.5m CIGS modules

Ascent Solar has signed a strategic supply agreement with FTL Solar for a minimum purchase of US$6.5 million of high-efficiency, flexible CIGS PV two-meter and premier modules during a three-year contract period. Ascent Solar is scheduled to begin shipments to FTL Solar for market seeding of emerging market opportunities with their lightweight solar-integrated tensile fabric product line.

FTL Solar CEO Tony Saxton, stated, "We are pleased to announce that FTL Solar is a U.S. distributor for Ascent's lightweight PV modules for fabric awnings, airbeams, tents, tensile structures, sailboat sails, tarps, and umbrellas. Integrated with Ascent's high-output lightweight flexible modules, FTL Solar's products are the optimal means for capturing electricity from sunlight, as well as providing second functions such as shelter.

"We have hit the market with FTL Solar's PowerMod tents with Ascent Solar PV modules 'outside' for military and tent rental industry sales, and with FTL Solar's PowerFold handheld battery chargers for military and consumer sales. We see this as the beginning of an epochal change across all of the fabric structure industries. We envision that the fabric structure industry is going to become renewable electricity providers in the future in addition to being the flexible fabric product providers that they have traditionally been."

Ascent Solar president and CEO Farhad Moghadam said, "This contract represents sales velocity for specialty products that require certain customization and affirms our ability to demonstrate our breadth of integration. Ascent's recent product certification under MIL-STD 810G for defense applications has opened up market potential in the emerging defense/disaster relief opportunity with fabric integrated portable solar applications for both tent and personal portable power integration."