Domestic solar panel manufacturers have been hit hard in recent years as they struggle to compete against an influx of less expensive imports from Asia, but the United States still retains a technical edge in higher-tech solar engineering. And one Chatsworth firm is an example of that dynamic. Pioneer PV Solutions Inc. has developed a thin-film photovoltaic technology that uses a spray-on method to deposit semiconductors, rather than fabricating panels out of silicon like most traditional large-panel manufacturers. The advantage of the technology is that it can be made in much smaller batches, and in smaller sizes than traditional methods. “The most desired applications, when you ask somebody what they would like to have a solar panel for, are ‘Oh, I’d like to have a solar panel on my jacket to charge my headset. Oh, I’d like to have a solar panel in my backpack when I go camping,’” said Vincent Kapur, vice president of business development for Pioneer. “Everybody wants that, but who is the dedicated supplier of that?” The company is a spinoff from Chatsworth-based International Solar Engineering Technologies Inc., a 27-year-old solar research and development firm. So far, Pioneer has worked with several European manufacturers in product development, providing samples and customizing options. Pioneer’s technology can produce panels as small as 4-square inches to as large as 4-square feet. “The feedback has been that no other company is doing what we do with this quality,” Kapur said. While Pioneer’s method of making solar panels is novel, small solar-chargers are not new to the market. Goal Zero LLC has built a $30 million-a-year business making small solar chargers for cell phones, laptops and other small devices used by campers and outdoorsmen. The Salt Lake City-based company also sells larger solar chargers for use as back-up generators and primary power sources for small homes in rural areas. “There was a nascent, small industry when we started,” said Joe Atkin, chief executive of Goal Zero. “But now it’s growing and we think it’s going to continue to do so. But the struggle has really been in educating people that this sort of technology is available.” Courting the market The solar industry in the United States is an $8.4 billion a year market, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington, D.C. trade group. The figure includes a wide range of products and applications, from large-scale utility to small residential projects. David Yang, an analyst at Santa Monica research company IBISWorld Inc., said that the influx of inexpensive Asian solar panels has hurt large domestic manufacturers but created an opportunity for smaller ones such as Pioneer and Goal Zero. “In general, the (domestic) solar market reached its peak in 2010, before the influx of really cheap product hit the market,” he said. “But now U.S. firms can compete through smaller or niche markets. They can focus on concentrated, more advanced cells. They can have technological superiority.” International Solar was founded in 1985 as a solar research and development firm. It worked on government and commercial contracts, including for the Department of Defense, to develop photovoltaic technologies. In 2006, it developed a pilot production facility for its printable solar cell panels and continued working with the federal government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory on flexible-surface application of its technology. This year, it began focusing on its sprayable product, an advancement of the earlier printable technology. The product differs from traditional solar cell manufacturing in that it uses Copper Indium Gallium Selenide instead of crystallized silicon as a semiconductor. Though pricey, the substance can be applied in very thin layers, lowering costs and allowing for more flexible cells. Most small solar chargers are made from solar cells left over from the production of large installation panels in China, where quality is rarely guaranteed, Kapur noted. “It’s actually the production scrap of the large-scale Chinese solar manufacturers that gets diverted toward this market, but it’s not the desired activity of the manufacturers,” he said. “This has resulted in an unreliable supply.” Military, humanitarian applications International Solar is now working with its spinoff to commercialize the technology and file patents. Pioneer can make small panels that can fit onto almost any device such as cell phones, tablet computers and lanterns. The company has also looked into humanitarian applications of the technology, working with the Indian government to test lanterns in rural areas. And with the parent company’s previous experience with the U.S. military, it plans to look at applications in the defense market. “In Afghanistan, the average Marine carries 15 pounds of batteries, and there is a real strong demand to get them reusable batteries and solar power,” said International Solar founder Vijay Kapur, who is the father of Vincent Kapur. Still, Yang at IBISWorld said it will be difficult for smaller firms to compete in the solar market unless they have truly superior and unusual technologies. Even though he predicts the market for large-scale panel makers will continue to contract, the big companies will still draw the most investment. “It will definitely be the case where only the biggest or the most distinct will make it,” he said.
Flexible Solar-Panel Maker Squeezes into Market
