Merlin Solar is confident that its flexible panels will pave the way on rooftops around the world.
The startup uses conventional silicon solar cells, but connects them with flexible materials, which provides greater durability and flexibility.
Solar panels are present in numerous places, from residential rooftops to large stores, and you are likely to see fields of them along the road. Despite their abundance, Venkatesan Murali seeks to demonstrate that there is still room for innovation in the solar sector. As the founder and CTO of Merlin Solar, Murali has been developing a novel approach to this technology since 2016, a time when Chinese companies were drastically reducing panel prices and following the collapse of Solyndra in 2011.
Murali learned from past difficulties and chose not to scare consumers with extreme novelties. He decided to use an existing, widely accepted solar technology: monocrystalline silicon. While solar cells made from this material are cost-effective, they tend to be fragile. To mitigate this issue, they are typically encapsulated between two glass panels within a metal frame, which makes them heavy and limits their installation options.
The challenge for Murali was to create flexible solar panels without compromising the durability of monocrystalline silicon. “Everything that is crystalline eventually breaks,” he noted. Therefore, the company reformulated the way cells are connected within the panel, increasing the number of connections and creating elastic interconnections that allow the cells to recover when bent. This resulted in a product that is resistant to both fractures and electrical failures.
Merlin’s panels are significantly lighter, and their flexibility allows them to be installed on a variety of surfaces. They feature an adhesive backing, which makes placement easy, similar to how one would use a sticker. Thanks to their adaptable design, they can fit perfectly, for example, on top of an Airstream trailer. Furthermore, these panels handle partial shading better; while in traditional panels the energy output drastically decreases with any shading, Merlin's network of connections allows energy to be efficiently redirected, even when part of the panel is shaded.
The combination of these features has made Merlin panels very popular among recreational vehicle owners. Additionally, the company has established partnerships with companies like Perdue, Daimler, and Ryder for use in their trucks, helping them reduce fossil fuel consumption for operating onboard refrigerators.
Although Merlin's products are more expensive than conventional solar panels, this has led them to adopt creative strategies in their business approach. “We enter spaces where we don't only compete on cost,” explains Murali. For instance, by minimizing the downtime of a truck, they are competing with the dirty and expensive energy generated by diesel. In this context, the return on investment is often attractive, typically within a year and a half.
Beyond recreational vehicle owners and shipping companies, Merlin is also exploring the rooftop solar energy market, where a significant portion of available solar panels are installed. To continue growing, they recently raised $31 million in a Series B funding round led by Fifth Wall, with contributions from Saint-Gobain and Ayala. The company anticipates that Saint-Gobain, one of the largest roofing materials companies, will become one of its main customers by integrating Merlin panels into their solar tiles.
