Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

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.

Ascent Solar has received certification for its premier and two meter flexible CIGS modules from an independent laboratory using a variety of U.S. department of defense military ruggedization standards known as MIL-STD-810G.

Ascent Solar is developing a new range of BIPV products for the U.S. standing seam metal roof marketplace. The material used for this product is being tested and optimized through the existing agreement the company has with EnergyPeak.

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory has validated conversion efficiencies of 14.1% for flexible copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide (CIGS) solar-cell materials produced on Ascent Solar’s 1.5MW commercial pilot line in Littleton, CO. The company’s internal testing shows active-area peak efficiencies for its full-size monolithically integrated CIGS-on-polyimide modules reaching 11.7%, with median efficiencies on the line averaging between 10.5 and 11%-plus, according to president/CEO Farhad Moghadam.

Ascent Solar has signed a definitive Cooperation Agreement with Energy Technologies, of Mansfield, Ohio. The agreement focuses on the development of new PV products intended for the U.S. military.

Ascent Solar Technologies said that it has successfully completed internal qualification of a packaging solution for its flexible monolithically integrated copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic modules. The company's flexible encapsulation solution passed the guideline of 1000 hours of damp-heat testing (85% relative humidity and 85°C temperature) set forth by IEC 61646 standards for performance and long-term reliability of thin-film solar modules.