The French manufacturer of organic solar films Armor is entering into the production of freely formable solar modules together with its German subsidiary Opvius. This is reported by the architecture portal Solar Age. Such modules offer architects the opportunity to choose the dimensions and appearance of the solar modules completely independent of any restrictions.
For this purpose, Armor's films with the product name Asca are coated with the organic semiconductor material at the French plant in La Chevrolière, a small town just outside Nantes. This is where Armor's production line is located, which enables the manufacture of very wide films. These are then transported to Kitzingen in Bavaria where they are further processed by Opvius. The subsidiary in Germany engraves and interconnects the films with a laser according to the customer's specifications.
Bespoke solar modules
In this way, Armor can open up new business opportunities. Because this will enable the company to offer even more applications. Because the organic solar film can now take on any shape imaginable. Bespoke, original and unmistakable, or with a special design, this gives the solar foils a high added value, which designers and architects appreciate in a product, the project partners point out.
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But the cooperation is also of benefit to Opvius. With a production capacity of one million square meters per year, Armor has achieved a sufficiently high degree of scaling to be able to produce the films cost-effectively. "The energy demand in the world is enormous. We have the largest industrial capacity in the world and were able to stabilize our production process in two years of production," emphasizes Hubert de Boisredon, Armor's Managing Director. "We are thus equipped to produce our organic photovoltaic film Asca on a large scale, in order to subsequently allow new markets to participate quickly and flexibly."
Assembling semi-finished products on site
However, organic photovoltaics is only part of Armor's business. This is because the company mainly produces thermal transfer foils, which are delivered as semi-finished products and assembled by partner companies. With the acquisition of Opvius last year, Armor wants to extend this so-called co-industrialization model to the photovoltaic sector, Hubert de Boisredon describes the goal. (su/mfo)
