MiaSole, which makes copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solarmodules, has signed a contract to deliver 7.5 megawatts of panels tojuwi Solar in Germany. The panels will be placed on roofs and in theground at utility-scale solar parks in that country.

MiaSole delivered 1 MW to juwi in the second quarter.

The company is one of the Big Five in CIGS startups. MiaSole,NanoSolar, Solyndra, HelioVolt and Solopower all burst onto thegreentech scene in the middle of the decade and all have had to faceproduction snafus, management changes and delays. Even worse, the priceof silicon solar panels has dropped considerably since then thanks tothe rise of Chinese solar manufacturers, a glut of raw materials and aworldwide economic downturn. Meanwhile, cadmium telluride specialistFirst Solar says it has dropped its prices production costs to 76 cents a watt, creating a formidable barrier for new companies trying to break into the market.

Still, CIGS vendors say they will undercut the price of silicon solar panels and produce products that can generate more power than cadmiumtelluride and/or amorphous silicon panels at equivalent or betterprices.

Miasole started shipping modules commercially this year and rolled out ambitious goals. The plan is to ship 22 megawatts’ worth of panels this year and, by the end of the year, to boost the efficiency from a mid-year level of around 10.5 percent to 13 percent.

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