The Israeli photo voltaic vitality firm Apollo Energy, which has developed expertise that turns right into a supply of vitality utilizing the solar’s rays, and has been despatched to e-commerce big Amazon and German automotive producer Volkswagen, has opened a headquarters manufacturing unit for the mass manufacturing of photo voltaic panels, which it says is the primary of its form on the planet.
The ten,000 sq. meter facility, constructed with an funding of NIS 100 million ($30 million) to spice up Apollo Energy’s manufacturing of versatile photo voltaic panels is situated in Yokneam’s Mevo Carmel Science and Business Park in northern Israel.
The automated facility is predicted to achieve an annual manufacturing output of 1.5 million sq. meters of photo voltaic movie, or an annual capability of about 190 megawatts, which is equal to the common consumption of 35,000-40,000 households. , the corporate stated.
Based in 2014 by CEO Oded Rosenberg and CTO Eran Mimon, Apollo has developed manufacturing expertise for versatile, light-weight, sturdy and high-efficiency photo voltaic movies that it says can flip any sun-kissed floor into vitality. -producing surfaces that generate electrical energy.
Photo voltaic panels are made for surfaces resembling these on automobiles, vans, roofs and airplanes, which can not help the burden of glass photo voltaic panels. The dimensions of the fundamental unit of photo voltaic movie is 12 sq. meters and weighs 3 kilograms per sq. meter.
Listed on the Tel Aviv Inventory Change since 2017, Apollo says its floating photo voltaic panels generate electrical energy above water, and are immune to waves, making them appropriate for quite a lot of marine autos and sail
Apollo Energy CEO Oded Rozenberg holding a light-weight versatile photo voltaic panel. (Courtesy Rami Zerenger)
“This new and automatic facility was in-built one and a half years, utilizing groundbreaking expertise that we developed ourselves, to comprehend our imaginative and prescient of producing electrical energy from any floor uncovered to the solar . The potential is limitless,” Rosenberg stated. “Our versatile solar-film expertise is especially appropriate for the set up of sunshine roofs and water reservoirs and within the automotive market.”
The opening of the power comes as Apollo final 12 months signed its first industrial deal within the international automotive market, with Volkswagen’s industrial car group in Germany. Underneath the phrases of the 10-year settlement, Apollo will present Volkswagen with tens of hundreds of photo voltaic panels in a deal value €33 million (436 million). Photo voltaic vitality movies are anticipated to be included in Volkswagen car fashions beginning in July 2024.
As well as, the corporate has partnered with German automotive producer Audi to combine versatile and light-weight photo voltaic panels into the supplies that make up the roof of its electrical autos. Apollo additionally has initiatives with different automotive manufacturers resembling Hyundai, Renault and Geely.
“The photo voltaic sheet generates electrical energy from photo voltaic vitality and helps to increase the driving vary of the automotive,” stated Apollo.
In February final 12 months, Apollo acquired an order from Amazon to put in mild photo voltaic sheets on the roof of considered one of its logistics facilities in France and deploy its expertise on a 50-square-meter sidewalk on a substrate that recycled rubber to generate solar energy. .
In September the corporate entered into an settlement to supply Tadiran Photo voltaic with versatile photo voltaic panels for a minimal amount of 26 megawatts. The deal is a part of an settlement for Tadiran to turn into the unique distributor of Apollo within the mild roof market in Israel.
