January 25, 2023
Apollo will supply Volkswagen with tens of thousands of solar panels for 33 million euros. Today the company inaugurated a huge plant with an output of 190 megawatts. The CEO for Techtime: “The vision – to turn every surface under the sun into an electricity producer”
CEO of Apollo Power, Oded Rosenberg, at the new plant in Mova Carmel. Photography: Ilan Safra
Today (Wednesday), Apollo Power officially inaugurated a new factory for the production of flexible solar sheets in the Mevou Carmel Science and Industry Park in Bekneam. The factory is capable of producing sheets with an output of about 190 megawatts per year (1.5 million square meters of sheets), thus according to the company, it is the largest factory in the world for the production of solar sheets, and the first in Israel.
The factory consists of two buildings with a total area of about 10,000 square meters. Its establishment took about a year and a half and more than 100 million NIS were invested in it. The company’s current production facility produces up to 10 megawatts, and is mainly used for pilots and short series. The new factory Increases Apollo’s production capacity 20 times, and marks a significant acceleration in the commercialization of its products.
The increase in production capacity is intended to serve, among other things, Apollo’s agreement with Tadiran Solar, under which it is supposed to provide solar arrays in a minimum amount of 26 megawatts. “Tadiran Solar” will serve as the exclusive distributor of Apollo in Israel in the light roof market.
In a conversation with Techtime, the CEO of Apollo, Oded Rosenberg, talked about the company’s vision. “Our goal is to turn every surface under the sun into a producer of electricity. The rigid solar panels are large, heavy and fragile – and cannot be installed on any surface. Our main target markets are solar sheets for roofs, water reservoirs – what is called ‘floating solar’ – and the automotive industry, where our advantage is most clear.”
Apollo Power was established in 2014 based on flexible solar sheet technology and entered the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2017. The product is intended for applications in the fields of floating solar, lightweight roofs, automotive and off-grid applications. Thanks to their elasticity and low weight, they can be easily deployed even on non-flat surfaces, thereby utilizing buildings and areas where rigid and heavy panels cannot be placed.
Saving fuel and noise
The use of flexible sheets is particularly suitable for the electric and hybrid vehicle industry, since their weight is low and they can be spread over the entire surface of the vehicle, such as the roof and hood, and provide an additional source of energy for the vehicle that allows to increase their driving range, or alternatively to reduce the volume of the batteries. Also, thanks to the elasticity, they are resistant to travel vibrations.
In May, 2022, Apollo reported a first commercial agreement in the automotive industry. Today the company revealed the identity of the manufacturer: the German car giant Volkswagen. As part of the agreement, Apollo will supply tens of thousands Solar sheets, with a total value of 33 million euros, which will be integrated into vehicle models after the end of production (after market). Delivery will begin in mid-2024.
In the automotive industry, Apollo is active in two channels: fleets and private vehicles. In the fleet market, Apollo targets its sheets for the roofs of trucks and buses. For example, the company has a collaboration with the “Barn” company, which has installed these tarpaulins on about 90 transport trucks so far. The tarpaulins can also be installed on buses and trucks driven by fuel, in which case they are used to feed the electrical systems such as the unloading and loading elevator.
Rosenberg: “Our biggest market right now is buses and trucks. There are hundreds of buses in the world and in Israel with our tarps. The use of sheets helps save about 5% of fuel consumption. It also helps reduce noise in an urban environment, as the engine can be switched off when unloading goods. The ROI in this area is very fast, about a year or so.”
In the field of passenger cars, in addition to the significant agreement with Volkswagen, the company has collaborations with Audi and Hyundai, which have not yet reached the commercial stage. In the pilot with Audi, the integration of the solar sheet into the roof and hood is carried out during the production of the vehicle. In fact, it is about the assimilation of the solar cells themselves into the chassis of the vehicle using a press. This embedding method solves the aesthetic problem of laying out a sheet.
“The roof of the vehicle becomes an electricity producer. Audi tried to do this for years – with us they succeeded. Our solar cells are flexible and therefore they do not collapse during the production process, and their performance is not eroded as a result of the vibrations of the vehicle. We are in advanced stages of development.”
According to the company, the efficiency of its sheets at this stage has reached 16.75% – relatively high compared to competing solutions – and the weight is 0.5-2 kg per square meter. “In the field of flexible solar, our sheets are the most efficient, flexible and cheapest, thanks to the use of special coating materials, advanced production methods and complex optics. We are investing a lot of money to keep moving forward and close the gap with the regular panels, which currently provide an efficiency of approximately 21%.”
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