Midsummer partners with Asian maker of thin film solar panels
Swedish solar energy leader Midsummer has entered a partnership with Chinese maker of thin film solar panels Kaisheng New Energy Technology. Kaisheng will manufacture thin film roof top products for Midsummer based on Midsummer’s certifications and quality assurance, and Midsummer will have exclusive roof top rights to market these panels in Europe. “They will serve as a complement to our other product lines and help enlarge our market,” comments Midsummer’s CEO Eric Jaremalm.
Midsummer has signed an OEM agreement with Kaisheng for the production of thin film solar panels, based on a similar but slightly different CIGS thin film solar cell technology from what Midsummer has developed but with Midsummer’s certifications and quality assurance. Midsummer will have exclusivity to the European roof top market for these panels.
“This brings several benefits to Midsummer and Kaisheng,” said Eric Jaremalm, CEO, Midsummer. “We can provide our customers with products even in times of production constraints in our own European factories. We can address a new market that is more price sensitive. And we gain valuable insights into a slightly different but complementary thin film technology.”
“We see this as a long-term strategic collaboration that can have a positive impact on our operations and development far into the future. Short term, it will enable us to scale more quickly and address a price sensitive segment of the huge European market; Asian panels still have favorable treatment by the EU in terms of customs duties etc and have a price advantage compared with European products that some customers value.”
The new product will be marketed in Europe as BOLD S. It is very similar to Midsummer’s own model BOLD, a panel specifically developed for large flat or near flat low load bearing roofs on mainly commercial and industrial buildings.
The two parties will jointly develop in the areas of technology and material supply to further improve the product’s functionality and production cost.
“We have the ambition to grow the thin film market in Europe together with Kaisheng, especially in the low load bearing roof top segment which is huge and cannot be served by silicon panels,” comments Mr. Jaremalm.
