Solyndra reveals thin-film solar tubes

Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra unveiled today its entry in the copper-indium-gallium-selenium (CIGS) solar race—long cylinders coated in thin-film material inside glass tubes, which line up inside aluminum frames.

Chris Gronet, CEO of the three-year-old stealth startup, told the Cleantech Group he decided to show off the patented technology for the first time because Solyndra has signed $1.2 billion in customer contracts. The supply deals over five years call for Solyndra to provide panels to Phoenix Solar, Solar Power Inc. and other companies that expect to begin selling the product for flat commercial rooftops.

See Solyndra's technology here >>

Solyndra said the tubes allow the CIGS material to capture optimal sunlight for a longer period than traditional flat panels. Solyndra’s 180-watt-peak panels—each made up of 40 cylinders in a one-meter by two-meter aluminum frame—have an efficiency of 12 percent to 14 percent, Gronet said.

That claim has not been third-party verified, but Gronet said Solyndra used standards from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to make that assessment. A reflective coating on the roof below the panel accounts for 20 percent of the output, he said (see White roofs could lower global emissions).

The battle in thin film has been to achieve commercial production with a competitive cost-per-watt, best exemplified by industry leader First Solar. Solyndra declined to reveal its current production volume, cost-per-kilowatt hour, or the price of its panels. Gronet said the technology's price secrecy protects the profit margin along the supply chain.

Gronet said the aluminum frames snap together for installation at half the cost and a third of the time of traditional crystalline solar, assuming the customer doesn’t want added security to keep panels in place. Solyndra said installers can place panels on twice the space of flat roofs using the cylinder panels instead of flat crystalline panels because they don’t need to be tilted, can be placed over obstructions such as air ducts, and can be placed contiguously across a roof.

The design—40 one-inch-wide cylinders with one inch between each of them—allows the panels to sustain winds up to 135 miles per hour, while flat panels can sustain winds up to 95 miles per hour, he said.

Solyndra said it began production in July at its facility in Fremont, which is not yet running at its capacity of 110 megawatts a year. Solyndra expects the facility to produce 2 million cylinders a month when fully ramped. The company is in the planning stages of a second facility with a capacity of 420 MW a year.

Gronet said Solyndra has raised $600 million in equity from investors including the Virgin Green Fund, Madrone Capital Partners, RockPort Capital Partners, Argonaut Capital Partners, Redpoint Ventures, US Venture Partners and CMEA Ventures. It was reported last year that Solyndra raised $79 million (see Swiss cleantech € and ocean power). 

Solyndra isn’t the sole CIGS maker pulling in big venture backing. In the third quarter of 2008, thin-film solar makers pulled in $620 million, with the majority going to CIGS technology (see Cleantech investment breaks all-time record).

In August, San Jose, Calif.-based Nanosolar said it raised $300 million in equity, while Santa Clara, Calif.-based Miasole is reportedly in the process of raising more than $200 million to ramp production of its thin-film technology (see Nanosolar grabs $300 million for utility solar)

Hayward, Calif.-based Optisolar has raised more than $130 million this year. In July, Berlin-based Sulfurcell Solartechnik raised $134 million (see Thin film pulls in a crowd), and, in October 2007, Austin, Texas-based Heliovolt closed a $101 million round (see HelioVolt boosts Series B to $101M).

However, Solyndra likely needed more equity than its competitors to develop its complex technology, said Ted Lin, an associate at Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that has invested in Miasole. Lin said he has seen other companies developing solar modules that use cylinders inside panels to maximize sun exposure but nothing quite like Solyndra’s technology.

“Their design is very different from how other people are doing it,” Lin said. “It’s a barrier for entry. I do think it’s a very novel idea, but a lot of the devil is in the details, and there are already a lot of challenges they have to overcome. In this case there are more potential complexities in the design that could create problems.”

Gronet said Solyndra’s manufacturing process hermetically seals the cylinder coated with a nano-layer of CIGS material inside a glass tube. The process uses thermal evaporation, a process pioneered by Boeing in the late 1970s. Solyndra developed its own equipment and outsourced the production of equipment.

The panels have been tested for safety and durability by Underwriters Laboratories, Gronet said. The panels are currently being tested at 10 beta sites, he said.

About three-fourths of the $1.2 billion is customer orders are expected to go to Europe, while the rest could go to the U.S. market, he said. Solyndra has more than 500 employees.