THORNTON, Colo., Jan. 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascent Solar Technologies, (Nasdaq: ASTI) (“ASTI” or the “Company”), the leading U.S. innovator in the design and manufacture of featherweight, flexible, and durable CIGS thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solutions, announced today that the Company has signed a LOI with an undisclosed private company to supply future orders that are anticipated to exceed 2-5 MW total from 2027 to 2029 and 100 MW per year within the next decade.

Ascent plans to continue increasing the conversion efficiencies of its products in order to deliver superior value to this potential customer and others. Ascent’s Space HDK line of products are built with Titan modules, the company’s standard modular building block producing over 2kW of power per kilogram on-orbit and will be available for 2024 customer deliveries. The enhanced modules for this customer will be modified to enable solar arrays to reliably generate more power for longer.

“Ascent already manufactures some of the lightest PV products on the market, all of which are an order of magnitude lighter than silicon alternatives, the primary competition for space solar,” said Paul Warley, CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies. “Our innovative manufacturing processes build off a portfolio of patents and other intellectual property that allow our expert team of engineers and technicians to continuously enhance materials and products that provide value to our customers. These engineering capabilities coupled with in-house manufacturing and R&D allow our team to further optimize our capabilities into the best products for high growth market applications, whether they be for agrivoltaics, space, drones, or aviation. Most significant is our ability to scale to production volumes that some of the world’s most ambitious customers require and meet the high growth demand forecasts for future solar in space application.”

The Company is focused on increasing production efficiencies beyond those already achieved in 2023. The Company seeks to expand production to meet this customer’s anticipated demand, including fabless production capabilities in a new Ascent state-of-the-art mega-factory, as well as potentially collocating dedicated production lines with the customer to unlock additional program cost and schedule efficiencies.

ABOUT ASCENT SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Backed by 40 years of R&D, 15 years of manufacturing experience, numerous awards, and a comprehensive IP and patent portfolio, Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative, high-performance, flexible thin-film solar panels for use in environments where mass, performance, reliability, and resilience matter. Ascent’s photovoltaic (PV) modules have been deployed on space missions, multiple airborne vehicles, agrivoltaic installations, in industrial/commercial construction as well as an extensive range of consumer goods, revolutionizing the use cases and environments for solar power. Ascent Solar’s research and development center and 5-MW nameplate production facility is in Thornton, Colorado. To learn more, visit https://www.ascentsolar.com or follow the Company on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).