The solar panels developed by the company are claimed to be unlike any other product ever tried in the industry. The panels are made of racks of cylindrical tubes (also called tubular solar panels), as opposed to traditional flat panels. Solyndra rolls its copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin films into a cylindrical shape and places 40 of them in each 1-meter-by-2-meter panel. The cylindrical solar panels (think of fluorescent tube lights—except in reverse) can absorb energy from every direction (direct, indirect and reflected light).
Each Solyndra cylinder, which is one inch in diameter, is made up of two tubes. The company uses equipment it has developed to deposit CIGS on the outside of the inner tube, which includes up to 200 CIGS cells. On top of the CIGS material, it adds an "optical coupling agent", which concentrates the sunlight that shines through the outer tube. After inserting the inner tube into the outer tube, each cylinder is sealed with glass and metal to keep out moisture, which erodes CIGS's performance. The hermetic sealing technology is commonly used in fluorescent bulbs.
When combined with a white roof (the fastest growing segment of the commercial roof industry with over 1 billion square feet installed in 2008 and required for any new commercial construction in California), the company claims that systems that employ the panels on a given rooftop can produce significantly more electricity in a given year. With a white roof, the panels can capture up to 20% more light than with a black roof.
The other advantage claimed by the company is that the panels do not have to move to track the Sun. The panels are always presenting some of their face directly perpendicular to the Sun. The daily production of flat solar panels has an output curve that has a clear peak while Solyndra systems produce more power throughout the day.
The Solyndra panels allow wind to blow through them. According to the company, these factors enable the installation of PV on a broader range of rooftops without anchoring or ballast, which are inherently problematic. Solyndra claims that wind and snow loads are negligible and that its panels are lighter in weight per area.
The company claims the cells themselves convert 12 to 14 percent of sunlight into electricity, an efficiency better than competing CIGS thin-film technologies. However, these efficiencies are for the cells laid flat. The company hasn't posted any numbers when the cells are rolled up. The Solyndra 100/200 spec sheet doesn't mention the cells nor the panel efficiencies directly. However, calculating from the data provided shows the high-end 210 panel has a field efficiency of about 8.5%.
Solyndra recently installed a solar panel on the equator in Singapore. This system is part of an effort that began several years ago. In 2006, Solyndra began deploying demonstration systems around the world. The company recently revealed that the total count is now at 14 systems and that these systems are each instrumented with highly sensitive radiation, wind speed, temperate and humidity measurement devices to aid in the development of energy yield forecasting software tools. There are more than 1000 Solyndra systems installed around the world and the company shipped its 100th megawatt of panels in March 2011.
Further, the company will be referencing the one- and three-year roof material reflectivity measurements collected and documented for over 2500 reflective roof surfaces by the Cool Roof Rating Council.
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