MiaSolé makes good on thin-film manufacturing promise

After a faltering start, thin-film solar material manufacturer MiaSolé has finally announced that it has started commercial shipments to customers.

The company, which makes copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film modules at its California factory, has confirmed that it has shipped the technology to 30 customer sites in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and the US.

Chief executive Joseph Laia said that the company is now increasing factory output and production capacity for next year. "We are confident our cost structure and manufacturing efficiencies will enable us to compete effectively in the large and growing solar-energy market," he said.

MiaSolé has disappointed investors in the past, promising full production as early as 2007, and then failing to deliver - a slip-up that cost its former chief executive David Pearce that year, when Laia replaced him.

However, in recent months, the company has put key pieces of the commercialisation puzzle in place. Earlier this month, it received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification for its thin-film solar panels, and also appointed a new vice president of manufacturing, Kevin Eassa.

The company also claims to be producing CIGS modules at greater than 10 per cent efficiency, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has certified this.

It is hoped that CIGS thin-film solar material will be cheaper to produce than traditional silicon cells. It is also flexible and light, making it more suitable for use in building-integrated solar applications.