Sweden's Midsummer signs agreement with Russian tech giant Rusnano

Swedish solar energy technology firm Midsummer has signed a Frame Agreement with the Russian state-owned tech company Rusnano Group and its Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs.

Rusnano seeks to use Midsummer’s advanced technology to promote and develop the manufacturing of light-weight flexible photovoltaic cells and modules to set up production and development in Russia, as well as in other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union; Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Midsummer will also source panels for world-wide distribution of panels manufactured in Russia and the region.

“We are pleased and excited to enter into this agreement with such a prestigious and visionary company as Rusnano”, said Sven Lindström, CEO, Midsummer. “This could open up a whole new market for our advanced manufacturing equipment for light, flexible, robust and energy efficient thin film solar cells”

“Our DUO system has taken the position as the most widespread manufacturing tool for thin film flexible CIGS solar cells in the world. We are especially impressed with Rusnano’s focus on the building integrated possibilities of thin film technology, a vision that we share,” he continued.

Midsummer, Vestas and Fortum

Rusnano is a government-owned joint-stock company established as a $5-billion Private Equity and Venture Capital Evergreen Fund by the Russian government and aimed at commercialising developments in nanotechnology. Other Nordic energy companies cooperating with Rusnano are Vestas of Denmark and Fortum of Finland.

“The market for flexible solar panels designed to be installed on buildings which are still under construction and on existing structures is currently one of the fastest-growing markets in the energy industry,” said Ruslan Titov, Deputy CEO of FIEP Rusnano.

“Several research groups and companies in Europe and the USA have made breakthroughs in photovoltaic technology in recent years, breakthroughs which have made it possible to install solar panels in places where we had not been able to before – on unexploited roofs, facades, and windows. We are systematically developing non-silicon flexible photovoltaics in Russia, the only way feasible – first we transfer and localise technologies, then we upgrade the technology and increase the scale of production in order to meet the demands of the growing market, including export to Midsummer," he added.

Minimal carbon footprint

Midsummer's production process for thin film solar cells has a minimal carbon footprint compared to other production processes for solar modules. For example, its silicon modules, have been confirmed by life cycle analyses carried out by independent environmental analysis companies.

An ever-increasing focus on renewable energy is now directed towards the total carbon footprint, i.e. not only the amount of energy that the end product consumes or produces, but also the amount and type of energy required for the manufacture and operation of the product - a discussion that has exploded when it comes to, in particular, electric vehicles. Midsummer's flexible thin film solar cells have a carbon footprint of only 1/10 of what silicon panels have.

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