Ascent Solar to Supply Thin-Film Modules for Advanced Aerospace Application

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. has secured a major contract from an Asian customer to supply its high-voltage, superlight thin-film module for an advanced aerospace application.
 
“Ascent Solar was asked to customize a fully encapsulated, large area thin-film module weighing no more than 420 grams per square meter (1.38 ounces per square foot), which could withstand extreme operating temperature ranges from +100°C to -75°C (approximately +210°F to -100°F),” said Dr. Joe Armstrong, founder and CTO of Ascent Solar.
 
After testing and validation for more than two years, the customer is now making commercial size orders. The total contract value is approximately $516,000, and product will be delivered throughout the year.
 
“This is by far the single largest PV sales contract in the corporate history of Ascent Solar,” said Victor Lee, CEO and president of Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. “We have noted previously that Ascent’s thin-film technology produces modules with the highest power-to-weight ratio. For aerospace and space applications, this characteristic is incredibly important. Additionally, the flexibility to integrate the modules into different form factors and applications, makes our technology suitable for this growing market.
 
“Since pivoting away from the traditional and highly commoditized on-grid and rooftop solar markets in 2012, Ascent has been focusing on developing high value-added commercial and consumer solar products, to ensure better margin protection,” Lee added. “The sales process and cycle in such specialty PV market can be tedious and lengthy, but the progress has been very encouraging.”