www.wroclaw.pl The link will open in a new tab

The company Roltec, has decided to build a modern factory in the capital of Lower Silesia.

Only in Wroclaw, which is considered the “Polish Silicon Valley,” are we able to get the right specialists to work with state-of-the-art photovoltaic technologies. This determined the location. Besides, the city itself is conducive to such pro-environmental investments, because we integrate into the urban organism without conflict. We create new jobs with negligible impact on the environment.

Hubert Siuba, marketing manager at Roltec

Roltec is building Poland's first CIGS solar module factory in Wroclaw

The investment, which has begun, is to consist of a large production and warehouse hall and an office building. The hall is to house primarily an automated production line of CIGS thin-film photovoltaic modules.

CIGS solar modules. What is it?

Hubert Siuba explains that it is a silicon-free technology in which modules are formed by vacuum sputtering of elements onto glass. The process is therefore clean and isolated. The photovoltaic module, which is created entirely and from scratch, will have applications in solar farms, as well as in installations integrated into the structure of buildings (BIPV).

Roltec develops and improves CIGS technology starting in 2019

Roltec has a main laboratory and experimental production line in Zylice near Rawicz. The Wroclaw plant will be an expansion and transition to full-scale production of the solutions tested in Zylice.

- Competitive in price and quality, the product to be made at the Wroclaw factory will be an alternative to silicon-based modules imported from the east, which are not environmentally friendly, the company representative adds.

How much will the solar module plant cost?

Roltec will invest about PLN 300 million in the factory in 2025-26. The generating capacity is expected to reach the planned 50 MW/year in 2026.

Roltec is looking for employees

Nearly 200 specialists in various fields will find work at the company, and today the company is looking for residents of Wroclaw and the surrounding area who are willing to work for selected positions.

Silicon cells, perovskite cells, CIGS. Comparison of technologies

Hubert Siuba of Roltec explains the differences and compares the technologies: silicon cells, perovskite cells, CIGS.

  • Silicon cells (Si) mainly poly- and monocrystalline (1st generation), most popular on the market, Features: quite expensive to produce, high efficiency and durability (more than 25 years), expensive and unprofitable recycling (not environmentally friendly).
  • Perovskite cells (3rd generation) - printed on special equipment. Made of calcium titanate(IV) and CaTiO3. Efficient. The newest solution of the three described. Durability of several years max.
  • CIGS cells - built from gallium, indium, selenium and copper on a molybdenum or ITO (transparent) substrate (2nd generation) - thin film. Cheaper to produce at the expense of lower performance. Durable (over 25 years), can handle high and low temperatures better than 1st generation, also better with shading and work better at different sun angles. Simple, inexpensive recycling. CIGS are well suited for tandem modules, that is, combining different technologies. Roltec, for example, is working under the European SITA program on combining a CIGS cell with a silicon one.

The world's first perovskite factory has been established in Wroclaw

It is worth recalling that Wroclaw has already invested in the latest solar technologies. In 2021, Saule Technologies opened the world's first perovskite cell plant - ultra-thin, utralight and flexible photovoltaic cells - in the Wrocław Technology Park.

Saule Technologies is a company, created in 2014 by physicist Olga Malinkiewicz and businessmen Piotr Krych and Artur Kupczunas. Olga Malinkiewicz is the winner of the award - “30 Creatives of Wroclaw 2015”.