Tata invests further in Swiss CIGS solar Company
Flisom, a Swiss company developing technologies for manufacturing flexible thin film CIGS solar modules, has now received an additional investment of around €10 million following an earlier investment of just over €40 million in 2013 for the pilot-production plant with an annual capacity of 15MW in Niederhasli-Zurich in Switzerland.
During last years Flisom improved the design of roll-to- roll manufacturing machines for processing and scaled them up from 50cm width to 1 metre width rolls - claimed to be an unprecedented scale of manufacturing capability for continuous processing of cost efficient, high performance monolithically interconnected flexible CIGS solar modules on plastic foil.
This fourth round of funding comes from Flisom's existing strategic investor, the Tata group, a global enterprise headquartered in India . "We are very pleased with this further investment from the Tata group coming on the eve of the inauguration of Flisom's 15MW capacity pilot production plant, and we thank the Tata group and existing investors for their continued support", said Ayodhya Nath Tiwari, chairman of Flisom Company.
"We appreciate the systematic approach towards innovation and the continuous hard work of Flisom's team in developing a unique manufacturing plant, while partnering with Empa, one of the world's leading labs, with several efficiency-related records for flexible solar cells", said Mr KRS Jamwal, executive director, Tata Industries. He further adds, "This investment marks Tata group's interest in next-generation technology for the solar photovoltaic industry."
"With the investment received in 2013, Flisom refurbished an old manufacturing building of 4500 square meter ground area in Niederhasli, in the outskirts of Zurich, to install all the needed machines for solar module manufacturing on 1 metre wide rolls. At the same time, Flisom continued technology development on 50 cm wide rolls at its Duebendorf plant, located on the campus of Empa", says Flisom's chief operating officer, Sudheer Kumar.
Flisom's CEO Ulfert Ruehle said: "After the successful installation of machines and other factory infrastructure in Niederhasli, the next step is to transfer the process know-how on these high- tech machines using specifically customised designs."
"The 15MW plant will serve as a proven blueprint for establishing larger production plants having a production capacity greater than 100 MW as well as low capital and operating expenditures. Flisom has been working steadily towards lowering the costs of manufacturing of flexible solar modules", added Ruehle.
Ayodhya Tiwari, founder of Flisom and the head of the Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technologies, believes that the high efficiency flexible and lightweight CIGS thin film solar cells have great potential to provide low cost installed solar systems, bringing many beneficial features together in a very unique manner. In addition to the economic benefits, CIGS thin film modules, known for faster energy payback than the mainstream Si wafer technology, will significantly contribute to CO2 reduction.
Empa and Flisom have been cooperating for a number of years to develop a unique industrial-scale production platform for CIGS solar modules. "Scale-up for large-area solar modules and adapting these complex innovative processes for industrial manufacturability is quite a challenge and requires close collaboration between research labs and industrial partners for transferring research excellence to industrial usability", says Pierangelo Groening, head of the Department of Advanced Materials and Surfaces and member of Empa's board of directors. "For industrial partners such as Flisom, we provide support on different topics to enable industrial development of novel and innovative concepts, which often require sophisticated analytical tools and skilled experts."
Empa CEO Gian-Luca Bona adds: "We are pleased that Empa's innovations in the field of renewable energy, especially in photovoltaics, are being transferred to industry for the benefits of a more sustainable society with a growing energy demand. This example perfectly illustrates Empa's role as a bridge between research and practical applications."
