“We came up with a process that stood interconnection technology on its end,” Murali said. “We wanted to reduce silver, but by the time we finished the development, we came up with something that addressed the major problems with silicon: cell cracking and interconnection failures. We changed from thinking of connecting solar cells with wires and busbars, replacing it with an interconnect that adapted to the cell characteristics.”
Merlin’s grids, which are manufactured in a facility in Thailand, allow more than 2,000 contact points with the cell, moving current more efficiently and boosting generation in low light and scattered light conditions. The company has panel manufacturing factories in California and the Philippines. The company also has a contract with manufacturing partner Waaree Energies in India, which has a manufacturing capacity of 1.5 GW a year. Merlin Solar is focusing on the U.S. market but also has a major presence in Southeast Asia and Europe.