Global Solar Rolls Out Stick-on panels

Glue may be the magic ingredient to making solar power cheaper.

Solar company Global Solar on Tuesday introduced a line of flexible solar modules that are designed for flat commercial rooftop buildings.

Rather than install racking systems to hold heavy glass-covered solar panels, the company's PowerFlex BIPV modules can be adhered onto a roof or built right into roofing materials. The modules are quicker to installer, lighter, and don't require any penetrations into the roof, according to the company.

Global Solar's solar modules use thin-film solar cells and can be attached to flat roofs without racking.

(Credit: Global Solar)
The installed cost of Global Solar modules is about the same as traditional polycrystalline silicon panels with racks, said Jean-Noel Poirier, the vice president of marketing and business development. But because there is no need for spacing between racks, the flexible thin-film modules can cover more roof space and generate more power, he said.

The company plans to sell its solar modules--long strips of solar panels almost 19 feet long and 1.5 feet wide--through roof membrane manufacturers. The solar cells are made from a combination of copper, indium, selenium, and gallium (CIGS) and perform comparatively well in areas that don't have direct sun, Poirier said.

The company plans to get certification for the modules, which are being evaluated by roofing membrane companies now, by the end of the year and hopes to start production early next year.

Global Solar, one of many solar companies developing CIGS solar cells and modules, now has 75 megawatts worth of production capacity at two plants in Tucson, Ariz., and Berlin. Until now, the company has supplied solar cells to panel manufacturers, but it's now manufacturing its own modules for building-integrated photovoltaics, said CEO Jeff Britt.

Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin.
Topics:
Solar
Tags:
thin film,
CIGS,
Global Solar,
BIPV
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Add a Comment (Log in or register) (15 Comments) prev next by Squashman2 August 31, 2010 8:31 AM PDT
What happens when Golf Ball size hail hits one of these?
Like this Reply to this comment by solitare_pax August 31, 2010 8:37 AM PDT
Agreed - how durable are they to wind & hail?

And what will they retail at?
Like this by rekees1 August 31, 2010 8:54 AM PDT
But if the energy company sues you for installing too many panels, as they control the states' legislatures and the federal government regarding power distribution quotas, this doesn't make much sense, does it?
Like this Reply to this comment by methos2000 August 31, 2010 8:57 AM PDT
So installed cost is no less expensive, I am guessing efficiency is than conventional PV panels (typical for thin film...), and durability is unknown - but hey, you can fit more on the roof! Not a very convincing sales pitch to me. How about some numbers Martin LaMonica? Without mentioning the power produced, cost etc, this is pretty much a fluff piece.
Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
by methos2000 August 31, 2010 9:01 AM PDT
Oops... meant to say "guessing efficiency is LESS than conventional PV panels..."
Like this 1 person likes this comment
by WineMaker5000 August 31, 2010 8:59 AM PDT
If they are cheaper to make and sell them at the same price i would go with proven technology rather than this greedy company. If they received funding from the DOE and still will market it this way, i would call this double rip- off. It benefits them only. We want the funding back with penalties and interests.
Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
by aMUSICsite August 31, 2010 9:14 AM PDT
More info on durability, price and the amount of power you can get out would have been nice.
Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
by mlamonica August 31, 2010 9:25 AM PDT
Company execs declined to provide a $/watt cost, except to say it's "competitive" on installed system cost. They did say the installation cost is 30-40 percent less. The module has a 25 year power output warranty. Each module puts out up to 300 watts. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a product spec sheet available.
Like this by Joe Real August 31, 2010 10:11 AM PDT
Time and again, we should not believe any of those 25 to 30 year warranties. Very few new companies are going to last that long, let alone 5 years, especially when it comes to solar industry. So I generally find these warranties useless. Maybe one to three companies will outlive the warranties.
Like this 1 person likes this comment
by dumbspammers August 31, 2010 10:14 AM PDT
Is "roofing membrane" what we used to call "tarpaper," or is it more like the rubber-like sheets called "membrane" for making custom shower pans?
Like this Reply to this comment by allo1977 August 31, 2010 10:27 AM PDT
very dumb why would you want solor when we have electric already in are homes already
Like this Reply to this comment by rsrupert1972 September 20, 2010 8:46 AM PDT
and where do you get the electric? Solar, if you use it, and you use more than you need, you can sell back for money. Duh. It also helps the environment, it's clean and reusable, and allows us to stretch out the fossil fuels used in cars
Like this by sdfwef_ewer August 31, 2010 11:08 AM PDT
Mounting the thin film panels directly onto the surface does allow you to cover more of the roof but the gain in surface area is mitigated by the reduced efficiency of horizontally mounted PV panels (i.e., the sun's rays will strike the PV surface at an oblique angle for much of the day and much of the year). Horizontally mounted panels will produce on the order of 15% less power than equivalent panels mounted at 30 degrees (after taking shading losses into account for the tilted panels).

On top of that, thin film is less efficient than conventional PV... so we have less efficient materials mounted at a suboptimal angle.

That said, many (most?) commercial roof tops are designed with virtually no surplus load factors... i.e., the wind load factors or the ballasting loads required for a tilted panel system preclude mounting them onto many roofs. This material would presumably be suitable for those roofs
Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
by joaompq September 1, 2010 2:18 AM PDT
Nice gadget if you go camping , not a good solution if you want to set a long term infrastructure.
Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
by Energy_Credits September 1, 2010 12:10 PM PDT
Great article.

And it's also worth noting how lucrative the federal credit is for homeowners who install solar panels.

It's 30% of the cost of solar panel installation.

And as long as it's installed between January 1, 2009 and December
31, 2016, there is *no* maximum credit.

So $10,000 installation = $3,000 credit. Not bad. Just get multiple quotes from installers; shop around!

And a lot of the utilities and local municipalities offer free/low interest loans too.

-andrew
http://energycredits.com/consumer-tax-credits/solar-power-tax-credits


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