Timed with the Solar Power International event in Las Vegas, MiaSole has announced the availability of its Next Generation Flexible Ulta-Light Solar Technology Products. As solar power is one of the fastest growing and most promising clean energy sources - with almost 70GW of world wide installations forecast in 2016 - MiaSole's Next Generation Flexible technology delivers significantly higher levels of efficiency (up to 17% efficient - twice as efficient than previous flexible, thin-film, solar technology) in a flexible, thin, ultra-lightweight form factor (4x lighter than traditional rigid solar panels).

MiaSole's Next Generation Flexible solar technology product can be installed in any location, anywhere the sun shines, on and off the grid - even in places where it previously was not possible to install solar - with an energy payback of less than half a year. The company has achieved high volume scale production and started to ship volume orders in 2016

In the past, solar installations were limited to rigid glass panels that could only be installed in certain conditions based on the type of structure or roofing of the building. MiaSole's new ultra-light, high-efficiency flexible solar product will open up new markets, create new applications, and enable new product design possibilities for manufacturers to integrate solar solutions into their products.

MiaSole's new products are part of a broader trend in the solar power industry toward more versatile integrations of solar panels into roofing and other products; for example, Elon Musk recently announced that SolarCity intends to start offering a new "solar roof" product with integrated solar technology, and Musk was quoted as saying that "instead of just selling solar panels that can be placed on someone's existing roof, SolarCity can sell the entire roof itself with the solar power capabilities built into it, potentially opening up a whole new market."

MiaSole is already developing partnerships to create new types of roofing and other Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) products with solar power integrated into them. McElroy Metal, a leading supplier of advanced roofing solutions, is partnering with MiaSole to create innovative solar roofing solutions.

"We are very excited about our partnership with MiaSole. Their thin-film solar modules are aesthetically pleasing and attach very easily to our roofing systems, because they have a factory-applied adhesive that works well with our metal panel roofing," said Ken Gieseke, Vice President of Marketing for McElroy Metal.

"MiaSole's next generation flexible solar panels have significantly improved in performance compared to previous flexible solar cells. MiaSole has truly innovated - their flexible solar panel performance is now on-par with rigid glass panels."

"Our new flexible ultra-light solar solution is bringing to light the next generation of flexible solar technology that overcome most obstacles to solar energy adoption. It will truly put solar panels wherever the sun shines," said Anil Vijayendran, Vice President of Product Sales and Marketing at MiaSole.

"This technology is especially relevant as part of the larger conversation that Elon Musk and SolarCity are starting to promote, with the idea of an integrated 'solar roof' product instead of separate solar modules installed on a roof. Our thin-film solar technology has made a generational shift compared to previous limitations of rigid glass panels, and has reached a new level of efficiency and adaptability.

"This is especially important for installing solar on the roofs of buildings - our flexible solar technology is 4x lighter than standard glass panels, which helps solve one of the biggest challenge for integrating solar into roofing structures, which is the weight of the solar panels."

Vijayendran also said that MiaSole's new high-efficiency flexible solar panels are more cost-effective than previous generations of flexible solar technology.

"Even as we have significantly expanded the efficiency of flexible solar technology, we have managed to keep costs under control - making flexible solar a more compelling and cost-effective proposition and opening up solar to new markets and a whole new world of solar power applications," Vijayendran said. "MiaSole is ushering in a new era of innovation and mass adoption of flexible solar panel technology, and the possibilities will be limited only by people's imaginations."

MiaSole's new flexible ultra-light solar product is the highest efficiency, thin-film solar technology on the market today, with production efficiency of up to 17%, which is 2x more efficient than previous generations, and projected efficiency of greater than 18% by 2017.

The solar solutions can be configured in various sizes and modified to fit any application by adhering directly to surfaces with peel-and-stick adhesive. Because they are so thin (2.5 mm), the new flexible solar panels are highly shatterproof and resistant to wind and seismic activity.

MiaSole's new flexible solar product is ushering in the "solar anywhere" movement, as it can be installed in such a wide array of locations and applications, such as:

+ Curved and unreinforced roofs

+ Concrete roofs (MiaSole recently announced a strategic partnership to sell solar solutions in Japan, where many roofs are made of concrete)

+ Unusual structures and vehicles such as carports, trucks, buses, shipping containers, trains and boats

+ New off-grid products and materials such as awnings, tents, or jackets

+ Infrastructure such as street lamps, reservoirs and landfills

+ Off the grid installations in the developing world and remote places where there is a need for lightweight, easy to install solar solutions

Integration with manufactured products - roofing manufacturers can use flexible solar cells to create their own customized solar solutions to sell to their customers, similar to the concept that Elon Musk has discussed of a "solar roof" product from SolarCity