Maxeon launches a line of frameless, conformable rooftop solar panels

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Maxeon Solar Technologies is releasing its new Maxeon Air technology platform.

The company said the platform enables it to produce frameless, thin, lightweight and conformable solar panels with efficiency and performance equivalent to standard solar panels. The platform is the result of five years of research, development and testing.

Air technology platform from Maxeon Solar Technologies.

Maxeon Solar Technologies

According to Maxeon, Air solar panels can be adhered directly to the roof without the need for racking or other mounting systems. Because of their adhesive and low-weight nature, the technology will initially target installations on roofs that are not engineered to support the weight of conventional solar systems.

In Europe, where Maxeon Air will first launch, the company estimated an unserved annual market for low-load roofs of more than 4 GW.

The Air panel uses no metal frame and no glass, resulting in an install load of roughly 6 kg/m². The product essentially appears to be a solar panel sticker, with Maxeon describing that the integrated adhesive layer enables installation directly on the roof surface, without racking, anchors, or ballast, and enabling installation on uneven roofs.

The company said that the cells within the panel incorporate a solid metal foundation along with stress-relieved cell interconnects. It said these protect against corrosion and enable fault tolerant circuits that allow energy flow even with cracked cells.

Additionally, the panels feature an efficiency of 20.9%, a low power-temperature coefficient, shade tolerance, wide spectral response, and hot-spot resistance.

General product availability is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2022.

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