- Midsummer has developed solar roofs under a contract with Benders to deploy for homes in Sweden
- These roof tiles come equipped with Midsummer’s thin film solar panels that help the roof generate electricity
- Midsummer says this is a part of its business strategy to develop such products in-house and under contract with manufacturers for sale through select partners
Swedish CIGS thin film solar PV manufacturer Midsummer has installed its solar panels fully integrated with roof tiles on a home outside Stockholm. Developed in partnership with local roof manufacturer Benders, the two are calling their product Bender SunWave.
The thin-film panels are so well integrated into the roofs that one can hardly spot these and give the impression of a shingled roof. Midsummer says it has been producing Bender Palema customized solar panels since May 2019 to suit the Swedish roofs from its newly opened production facility at Järfälla.
“The great interest for Palema SunWave and our other building integrated solar products proves that solar panels are becoming like any other building material with natural high expectations on both technical performance and aesthetics,” said Sven Lindström, CEO of Midsummer.
A manufacturing company, Midsummer says this tie up with Benders is part of the company’s new strategy to develop and manufacture solar panels, both in-house as well as through contract manufacturers for sale through select partners.
The Swedish company is also taking its know-how to markets other than Europe. In September 2019, it signed an agreement with Russia’s Rusnano to help it set up manufacturing within Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan to develop lightweight flexible non-silicon CIGS PV technology (see Midsummer To Help Rusnano With BIPV Technology).
Midsummer’s strategy seems to be working at a time that is rather difficult time for many specialized technology companies in the thin-film business. Elsewhere in the thin-film sector, Austrian CIGS thin film maker crystalsol has filed for insolvency as it was unsuccessful in finding enough funding to keep afloat. Its total liabilities amount to €6.66 million ($7.41 million). It is still negotiating with potential investors reported HLK.co.at.
While German CdTe thin-film manufacturer Calyxo GmbH had found an investor in TS Group after the company declared insolvency in April 2018, earlier this year Niering Stock Tomp law firm attorney Christoph Niering was appointed by the District Court of Aachen as the provisional insolvency administrator for TS Group after it filed for insolvency.
In August 2019, another thin film company from Germany, Solibro GmbH went into insolvency (see Solibro GmbH To File For Insolvency). Thin Film PV Panels Intergrated In Swedish Rooftop
