Peel-and-stick solar film: 0.85 mm thick, 24.4% IBC cells
SolarWindow launched ElectroFlex on 27 August 2026: a 0.85 mm self-adhesive laminate with 24.4% IBC cells and 73 W/kg, against about 20 W/kg for glass modules.
Peel-and-stick solar film reached commercial launch on 27 August 2026, when US-based SolarWindow Technologies released ElectroFlex. It is a five-layer composite laminate 0.85 mm thick, built around interdigitated back-contact cells with a stated 24.4% power conversion efficiency and a power-to-weight ratio of about 73 W/kg, against roughly 20 W/kg for conventional modules.
What is inside a 0.85 mm laminate
| Layer | Thickness | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Front encapsulant | 0.10 mm | SolarWindow, via pv magazine |
| High-efficiency solar cells (IBC) | 0.16 mm | SolarWindow, via pv magazine |
| Copper cell backing | 0.04 mm | SolarWindow, via pv magazine |
| Composite laminate | 0.30 mm | SolarWindow, via pv magazine |
| Rear substrate | 0.25 mm | SolarWindow, via pv magazine |
| Total | 0.85 mm | SolarWindow, via pv magazine |
There is no glass, no aluminium frame and no rail system. The company also supplies wiring, harnesses, electrical systems and power-balancing components needed to integrate the product.
Why weight is the interesting number, not efficiency
24.4% at cell level is good but not remarkable in 2026; IBC has been in that range for years, and module-level efficiency after cell-to-module losses will be lower. The number that changes what is possible is 73 W/kg.
A conventional 600 W glass module weighs around 30 kg and, mounted with ballast on a flat roof, imposes a distributed load that many older structures cannot legally carry. That is the single most common reason a warehouse or an older villa roof in the UAE gets a smaller system than its area would allow, or none at all. A laminate at 3.5 times the power per kilogram, bonded flat with no ballast, removes the structural objection rather than working around it.
The trade-off is thermal. Glass modules mounted on rails sit in an air gap that carries heat away; a film bonded flush to a hot membrane roof does not have one. In a Gulf summer, where roof surface temperatures routinely exceed ambient by a wide margin, operating cell temperature is the variable that decides real output, as we set out in our piece on heat and soiling in the UAE. SolarWindow has not published temperature coefficient or long-term degradation data for ElectroFlex, and until it does, a Gulf yield estimate for this product is guesswork.
Where the product is actually going first
ElectroFlex is initially available only to Tier 1 original equipment manufacturers in the United States, with expansion to selected markets in North America and Asia planned over coming quarters. Target sectors are transportation, marine, aerospace, architecture, agriculture, infrastructure, utility and specialty vehicles, with named applications including data centres and buildings, commercial truck and fleet vehicle roofs, curved train surfaces, and drone and aircraft structures.
That list is honest about what this is: a product for surfaces where a glass module cannot go, not a cheaper alternative to one where it can. SolarWindow is separately developing LiquidElectricity, a transparent coating intended to turn glass and plastic surfaces into generating elements, which remains under development.
What this means for a roof in the Gulf today
Nothing yet, and it is worth being blunt about that. ElectroFlex is not sold in the UAE, is not on DEWA's eligible equipment list, and therefore cannot be installed under Shams Dubai. Anyone offering you peel-and-stick solar for a Dubai villa this year is not offering you a grid-connected system.
- If your roof was rejected on load, keep the file. Lightweight laminates are a category, not one product, and structural rejection is increasingly a temporary answer rather than a permanent one.
- If you are quoting a warehouse now, quote glass. Proven modules with published temperature coefficients and 25-year warranties are what makes a C&I business case financeable today.
- Ask for module-level, not cell-level, numbers. A supplier quoting cell efficiency for a laminate is quoting the flattering figure. The one that determines your yield is watts per square metre at operating temperature, and it belongs in the technical proposal.
Sources: pv magazine — SolarWindow launches 0.85 mm-thick, self-adhesive solar film (27 August 2026), pv magazine USA — SolarWindow launches self-adhesive solar film (28 August 2026).