Midsummer gets thin film machinery order for Sunflare plant in China

Swedish solar technology company Midsummer AB (STO:MIDS) has secured a USD-7-million (EUR 6.1m) equipment order for a new solar panel factory in China of California-focused solar thin film supplier Sunflare.

Midsummer said Thursday it will start production of the equipment after New Year at its Järfälla factory. Delivery is to take place later in 2019.

Philip Gao, CEO of La Verne, California-based Sunflare, said that the company’s new products, including its solar roof shingle, have attracted significant interest. “The demand for our products in the US has exceeded our expectations and we rapidly need to expand our production capacity with the help of our established partner Midsummer,” Gao added.

For now Sunflare focuses mainly on the Californian solar market, but it expects to grow in other US and Asian markets in the long term. It supplies flexible mass-produced copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin films. The company's new solar plant will open in 2019.

Sven Lindström, CEO of Midsummer, is observing a growing demand for flexible thin film solar cells, as their low weight and flexibility make them perfect for urban environments. “As an example of how strong the global trends are: the recent decision in California that all new homes built in the state must have solar power installed from January 1, 2020, that's already in a year,” Lindström said, adding that other states and countries are expected to follow that example.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.88)

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