A few days ago, start-up solar manufacturer Bila Solar revealed plans to build a 1GW photovoltaic module production plant in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The company will produce flexible, glassless, PERC silicon modules and said the products will roll off the production line in the summer of 2024.

The 1GW plant will also include a new U.S. headquarters in downtown Indianapolis, covering more than 150,000 square feet and an investment of more than $35 million, Bila said.

Mick McDaniel, Vice President and General Manager of Bila in the U.S., said, "We are bringing ultra-lightweight modules to the U.S. market that can reach places that traditional solar modules cannot. In Indianapolis, we have found a central city location, a diverse workforce and an entrepreneurial spirit that are perfect for our out-of-the-box approach to making clean energy accessible to all."

The company claims that its glassless modules are 70 percent lighter and 95 percent thinner than traditional solar modules and use "specially designed and patented aerospace composite materials." The flexible and lightweight solar products are designed to bring solar energy to a wider range of applications including low load-bearing roofs, waterproof roofs and integration into vehicles and buildings.

Bila currently has a 1GW manufacturing facility in Singapore and has deployed approximately 500MW of capacity to date. The company was founded by Dr. Shi Zhengrong, who was also the founder of solar manufacturer Suntech Power.

Currently, rooftop and distributed solar projects (where flexible modules may supply the market) are on the rise globally. Similar (flexible solar modules) are already available in the market. Nasdaq-listed Ascent Solar produces thin-film flexible solar modules using roll-to-roll manufacturing methods that can deposit copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) technology onto substrates.

Bila Solar uses PERC half-cells that are different from the thin-film technology used in lightweight flexible products, and says on its Web site that it layers half-cells of PERC between polymer laminates, resulting in a module that is more durable than other flexible modules and comparable in efficiency to traditional products.

The spec sheet for its debut 520W module shows a conversion efficiency of 19.3%.