PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Romag to start BIPV production in UK with BP Solar cells

Romag Ltd., a UK glass processor for the architectural and bulletproof-glass markets, plans to start production of BIPV glass-glass modules in the second quarter 2004 as part of a £2.5 million ($4.2 million) expansion of facilities at its Newcastle site.

	© Romag Ltd.
Made in the shade: A canopy over the entrance of the Business Innovation Centre's building for technology demonstration in Sunderland is an example of Romag BIPV modules to come.

A 6 MW capacity tabber and stringer line, purchased in October from the New Hampshire, US-based PV equipment manufacturer GT Solar Technologies, should be in place by March for producing modules as large as 3,300 × 2,200 mm, says Kevin Webster, Romag's technical director. On Nov. 7, to help finance the move into PV, Romag floated 18 million new shares at £0.45 (76¢) on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market, closing up on the day wit a 57 percent increase at £0.71 ($1.19). By Nov. 17, share price had dropped back to £0.66 ($1.12).

According to Webster, tabbing, stringing, and lay up of the cells will be automated. Romag has a deal to purchase BP Solar's 2.5 W Saturn cells. Webster expects BP to buy back about 30 percent of the modules, with the rest being marketed by Romag. He says the company already has plans to produce glass-glass PV roofing tiles for UK roofing products firm Marley Building Materials. Another Marley tile is also on the drawing boards. Webster declined to comment, saying only it was not glass-glass.

Spacing between the cells can be set at between 3 and 40 mm, with variables up to 300 mm also possible. Webster is predicting Romag will be able to ramp up to about 2 MW of production on a single shift by mid-summer. Depending on orders, a second 2 MW shift might be started by the end of 2004 with a third shift in 2005 to reach full production capacity. Webster says Romag would then consider a second 6 MW production line. He declined to give details about pricing. »We hope to be able to pool the cost of the modules down to be competitive with current market prices,« he says.

Ray Noble, business executive manager at BP Solar, verifies that BP already has about 1 MW of firm orders in the UK for the Romag modules, a number he expects to more than double during 2004. The association with Romag, he says, ties into BP Solar's worldwide restructuring plans (see article, p. 7). »We decided to form this relationship,« he says, »when we realized the number of clients who wanted a product like this, but were being turned away by our agents because we didn't have anything to offer."«

Webster says the move to PV production began six years ago when he was asked to find a new product for Romag and struck on the idea of PV »as an extension of the laminating we already do.« The first products were custom-made PV louvers for the BP Solar facility in Sunbury. But at the time, the lack of architectural demand didn't justify investment in equipment. Now, says Webster, if he brings a PV module to the seminars he conducts for architects, »they are like flies around a honey pot.«