Niftier than flat solar panels, but bumping up against the economic reality that cost drives choice more often than not. (Credit: Solyndra)
The most concise explanation yet of Solyndra's struggle to stay afloat comes this week from Susan Kraemer of CleanTechnica.com.
She tells us, as PV Tech reports, that Solyndra has completed a 1.2 MW solar installation on a large warehouse roof near Toulouse, France. The system, which consists of more than 7,080 Solyndra CIGS panels, is the largest Solyndra system in France and one of the largest worldwide.
A French partner, Nazca, installed the roof array for a warehouse owned by Port de Barcelona, one of the main commercial transport and distribution arteries in the Mediterranean area.
Kraemer explains that Solyndra's competitive advantage is two-fold: a unique cylindrical solar panel that can convert reflected light from all angles when installed on flat white building roofs; and it's easy (i.e. cheap) to install.
Solyndra's problem is that the panels are made of thin film; copper-indium-gallium-deselinide. This kind of solar panel material used to be cheaper than silicon. Not now it isn't.
