Flexible, CIGS thin-film solar PV manufacturer Ascent Solar Technologies of the US is expanding its manufacturing capacity and geographic footprint with the acquisition of Switzerland based thin-film solar maker Flisom AG that comes to the fold with its 15 MW roll-to-roll production fab in Zurich.
"The transaction is expected to immediately provide ASTI with the opportunity and proven manufacturing capacity to establish new revenue streams in the Luxury Goods and Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) markets," explained Ascent. "ASTI intends to use this new European presence to provide in-region support for EU driven net zero initiatives and to support new demand in the US, Europe and Asia."
Flisom, that's short for flexible solar modules, has the capacity to produce roll-to-roll film of up to 1 meter in width and 1 km in length. The US manufacturer says Flisom's 15 MW fab supports its focus on operational efficiency and optimization.
Ascent says its nameplate production capacity with this acquisition increases by 300%, to 20 MW. It operates a 5 MW fab in the US which was recently repurposed as a Perovskite Center of Excellence as it aims for industrial commercialization of this technology (see Ascent Solar Switches Over To Perovskite Technology).
President and CEO of NASDAQ listed Ascent, Jeffrey Max called it an ignition point for the company's turnaround strategy as the move opens up new markets for the company, while adding to its revenue stream.
Ascent will service production for Flisom's outstanding contracts using required assets and pursue extending and expanding customer contract.
The management had earlier announced plans to acquire a 15 MW plant in Europe along with an option to take a controlling interest in the company whose name it did not identify back then, including its 40 MW thin-film CIGS fab in Hungary (see US Thin Film Module Maker Expanding Into Europe).
Flisom is a spin-off of the Laboratory of Solid State Physics of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETC Zurich) and worked in stealth mode with the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.