One of the drawbacks of traditional solar panels has always been that they are heavy, bulky, and often require reinforcement in order to install them on a roof or other structure.
Add to that they are limited as to what surface they can be mounted to and they just aren’t an option for everyone. We have seen some advances in combating those negatives in recent years, and Sunflare, based out of Los Angeles, may have one of the better solutions out there with their lightweight and flexible panels that can be mounted with an adhesive to almost any surface.
Their new panels are made in a fashion that has eliminated the glass substrate that makes traditional panels heavy and inflexible. These panels are also 10% more efficient than the older panels while being up to 65% lighter.
The savings in weight makes it so that they can be mounted almost anywhere without any special bracing or reinforcement. Their flexibility means they can even be applied directly to curved surfaces, which could see applications to supplement electric vehicles. They also say that their panels are less expensive to produce, which would help make them an option for even more people or business solutions, especially those living off grid.
They are hoping to start production sometime next year, so time will tell if they can produce on their claims. Recent developments make it hopeful that they can, but it is only a matter of time before somebody is able to produce panels of this caliber at a more affordable price.