PowerFilm Solar designs and manufactures unique thin-film, flexible solar panels and custom solar power solutions for a wide range of needs.
Portable solar panels from PowerFilm offer best-in-class performance for applications such as camping and backpacking. These are reliable, compact, and lightweight solar panels that offer high performance solar power even in extreme environments.
Custom solar modules are designed to meet the specific needs of customers who wish to add reliable solar power to their products. With almost three decades of development success and engineering expertise, PowerFilm is the industry leader in lightweight, low profile, and durable solar modules. PowerFilm’s product development team works with clients to create customized solar power applications.
PowerFilm PowerShade is a foldable, durable, and portable solar solution. The solar panels are mounted to a lightweight, weather resistant fabric that easily folds for storage and unfolds for use. The PowerShade is available in 1 kW, 2 kW, and 3 kW power generation. Solar fi eld shelters reduce dependence on fuel-fired generators that are noisy and require a constant supply of costly fuel. PowerShades are used for a variety of purposes, ranging from lighting and ventilation to power for remote bases of operations, disaster relief and communication hubs when grid power is not available. Unmatched durability allows for use in even the harshest environments and PowerFilm’s proprietary processes produces a panel that works even after being punctured. Unlike “CIGS” solar technology, PowerFilm A-Si solar
modules do not need to be “sun soaked” after storage, they provide critical power immediately when placed in the sun.
Specs
- Operating Voltage: 15.4
- Wattage: 1 kW, 2 kW, or 3 kW
- Width (in): 20′ x 40′ Clear Span (2 kW)
- Length (in): 38′ x 56′ Staked Dimensions (2 kW)
- Weight (kg): 1566 kg (2 kW, crate weight)
- Weight (lb): 704.7 lb (2 kW, crate weight)
PowerFilm’s amorphous Silicon offers:
Lightweight
- The thin film nature of amorphous silicon make it incredibly light and adaptable to different surfaces as a simple/cost effective installation
- No requirements for glass or rigid framing
- Critical in portable applications
Flexible
- Thin film solar panels are incredibly flexible due to PowerFilm’s unique manufacturing process
- Allow numerous configurations and applications for solar material
Light Sensitivity
- Amorphous Si collects more energy in lower light situations than other technologies
- Specific PowerFilm material will work in indoor light down to 200 lux
- Outperforms crystalline and other thin film technologies in many real-world environments collecting energy in cloudy, shady, hazy environments where crystalline panels will not.
Durable
- Monolithic construction makes panels very resilient to damage
- Damage to individual area shuts down the damaged area not the entire solar panel producing power after being punctured or scratched
- Critical in potentially high-stress environments or applications
Temperature Resistant
- All solar material has temperature coefficient. And, while all panels become less efficient as they get hotter, Amorphous Si is less sensitive to high temperatures than crystalline (0.19% v 0.50% degradation per degree C over 25C)
- Amorphous Si will perform closer to specifications in high-temperature applications and environments
- Overall performance through a normal day of outdoor exposure will be greater than crystalline per rated watt
Revolutionary Package of Proprietary Solar Technologies
Low Cost Manufacturing and Installation
Roll-To-Roll Manufacturing
Roll-to-roll manufacturing significantly reduces manufacturing costs. Our company was the first and remains the only company in the world that manufactures and sells monolithically-integrated solar panels on plastic using a true roll-to-roll manufacturing process.
Polymer Substrate
Flexible yet durable polyimide substrate results in enhanced flexibility, paper thinness and lighter weight. The substrate is as thin as 1 mil (0.025mm) thick.
Thin Film Amorphous Silicon
Amorphous silicon is the absorber layer in the solar panels. The amount of silicon used in PowerFilm® solar panels is as low as 1 percent of the amount used in traditional solar panels. PowerFilm has a strong environmental profile and is cadmium free. Single and tandem junction devices are manufactured. Finished panels are encapsulated in materials appropriate for the application environment.
Manufactured 13 inches wide, up to 2,400 feet long.
Monolithic Integration
Monolithic integration is the automatic built-in-connection of individual solar cells. Monolithic integration reduces manufacturing costs (eliminates expensive labor for manual connection) and increases durability (eliminates stress-prone manual connections of individual solar cells).
Product and Building Integration Technology
PowerFilm® Solar also has developed low-cost technology to integrate the solar panels with products and building materials.
Encapsulation
To optimize the tradeoffs between product functionality, lifetime and cost, the core solar panels are encapsulated in a variety of materials to meet the requirements of diverse applications and use environments.
Backing Materials
The solar panels can be combined with several backing materials, including fabric, metal and fiberglass.
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/