Stockholm, Sweden and Clichy, France - Midsummer, the Swedish manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, announced on March 7 that it has entered into a collaboration with France's Soprasolar, a subsidiary of Soprema, one of the world's largest manufacturers of roofing materials. Soprema's subsidiary will integrate Midsummer's thin-film solar panels into its roofing membranes, opening up a very large market for the new product.
Midsummer launches a collaboration with Soprasolar, a subsidiary to Soprema, one of the world's largest roofing material manufacturers. With Midsummer's light and thin solar panels, Soprasolar will be able to offer solar panels also to customers whose roofs cannot withstand the weight of the silicon panel product the company also offers.
Soprasolar’s systems have been installed on more than 15 million m² of flat roofs, for about 750 MWp of solar panels, mainly silicon panels, in France in conjunction with roofing material installations. However, the company estimates that it has turned down about the same amount of solar cell capacity because the customers' roofs have not been able to withstand the weight of its silicon solution. Midsummer's products will enable Soprasolar to offer solar cell solutions to all its customers, even those with weaker (low load-bearing) roofs.
“The market is huge for solar cell-integrated roof material solutions that can be installed even on weaker roofs, which is the case in most of the world's countries with roofs that do not have to withstand the weight of snow,” said Eric Jaremalm, CEO, Midsummer. “We are very happy and full of anticipation about the collaboration with this European construction giant, which can open up a previously unexploited market for solar cells on low load-bearing roofs. It can create a new European industry and at the same time potentially increase the share of solar energy in the European electricity mix.”
With more than 10,000 employees and headquartered in France, Soprema has over a hundred production facilities worldwide for the production of roofing materials made from bitumen (a common roofing material made from asphalt/tar that is waterproof and used for flat or gently sloping roofs), TPO membranes (a synthetic roof coating that is also used primarily for flat roofs) and similar products.
Soprasolar and Midsummer have spent the last year in an effort to certify Midsummer's solar panels as an integrated unit in Soprema's roof membrane at CSTB, the French national organization that provides certification services in the construction industry.
With the certification finalized, Soprasolar will market Midsummer's and Soprema's joint solution not only to customers in France, but also in targeted countries where roofs from Soprema are being offered.
