Midsummer AB of Järfälla, near Stockholm, Sweden – a provider of turnkey production lines for manufacturing flexible, lightweight copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar cells – has received a repeat order for its compact DUO solar cell manufacturing system from an undisclosed Asian customer. The new order was received in connection with Midsummer's first system at the customer going into production with a solar cell efficiency of over 15%, surpassing the acceptance criteria for cell efficiency by more than two percentage points at the customer's production site.
Midsummer says that, due to strong demand for lightweight, flexible modules, the customer has decided to buy another DUO manufacturing system, which will be delivered in mid 2017. The system will be used for manufacturing lightweight flexible panels to cater for the growing demand for portable panels and roof top installations.
"The DUO system is now the most widely spread manufacturing tool for flexible CIGS solar cells," claims CEO Sven Lindström. The DUO is a compact, fully automatic deposition system for CIGS solar cell manufacturing, designed for operational stability and superior material utilization. Midsummer says that it has developed a rapid process for the production of solar cells by using sputtering of all layers of the solar cell, allowing scalable and cost-effective manufacturing.
