Midsummer announced this week that it has received an order for its CIGS production equipment from U.S. based manufacturer Sunflare. The equipment will be delivered to a new factory in China, which Sunflare expects to bring online in 2019.
The Swedish CIGS equipment specialist said it would begin to build the new equipment for Sunflare at its facility outside of Stockholm in the new year, with delivery expected later in 2019.
“We are pleased to receive this very significant order for production equipment,” says Midsummer CEO Sven Lindström. “The type of flexible thin film solar cells that Midsummer develops production equipment for, is coming in to increasing demand worldwide.
Sunflare, which manufactures CIGS thin film panels in China primarily for the rooftop market in California, is expanding on the back of an expected increase in demand after California’s recent decision to require rooftop solar on all newly built homes from January 1, 2020. “Demand for our products in the U.S. has exceeded our expectations, and we rapidly need to expand our production capacity with the help of our established partner Midsummer,” says Sunflare CEO Philip Gao. “We are keen on delivering innovative solar in applications that have largely been unserved.
pv magazine contacted Sunflare for further information on its expansion plans in China, but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
Midsummer also notes that it is seeing strong demand for its production equipment, with several major CIGS factories set to come online in Asia in 2019. The company was named one of the fastest growing in Sweden earlier this year, and also announced plans for the expansion of its factory back in August – Lindström added that Midsummer brought on 40 new employees in 2018, and expanded the factory on the outskirts of Stockholm up to 1,200 square meters.
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