Scottsdale, Arizona-based SolarWindow Technologies Inc. has launched its newest product for the commercial market in the form of its ElectroFlex brand of bendable solar panel cells.

Formally announced Aug. 26, the new product aims to generate electricity on both flat and curved surfaces that more traditional solar products could never reach. The company says the new technology is thinner than a standard U.S. dime, making it less than 1.35 millimeters wide.

The bendable product extends SolarWindow’s current catalogue beyond its LiquidElectricity brand of window coatings. The company’s top brass say the ElectroFlex brand is just the beginning, and that SolarWindow has a fleet of new and innovative solar-related products in the works for the coming years.

“In my recent letter to shareholders, I shared plans to release a family of innovative energy products unlike anything available today,” says SolarWindow president and CEO Amit Singh. “ElectroFlex is the first, and I look forward to additional new-product releases as we grow our SolarWindow portfolio to span across the full energy value chain.”

Initially targeting transportation, marine, aerospace, architectural, and agricultural markets, SolarWindow is going after infrastructure with the new product. The firm claims the ElectroFlex could provide “transformative” growth for the solar industry, taking photovoltaic modules to places they previously never could have accessed.

Ease of use

Crucial to its bendable form factor, the ElectroFlex has no frame and no rigid glass of any kind. Rather than needing traditional bolting or mounting setups, officials say the new product works with peel and stick capabilities and is, in essence, “solar without the solar panel.”

“It is designed to generate electricity on irregular structures,” the company says, “and could be applied to data centers and buildings, rooftops of fleet vehicles and commercial trucks, contoured panels of trains, drones, and airplanes, and other curved surfaces that have previously never been able to carry solar.”

Along with making the ElectroFlex easier to use, the team engineered the product to combat a common customer complaint with more traditional solar panels: a lack of aesthetics. The new brand eliminates all bulky racking, mounting, structural reinforcements, and other engineering hassles that often make solar an “eyesore,” the company says.

SolarWindow’s ElectroFlex product is currently open to Tier-1 OEM manufacturers in the U.S., the company says. Representatives add that there are plans to expand the product’s geographical footprint to further American markets, as well as Asia, in the near future.

Tags: Arizona, products, PV Modules, Solarwindow