Company Summary: Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.

Business Overview

• Industry: Solar Technology / Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Modules
• Main Focus: Design, manufacture, and sale of flexible, lightweight, durable photovoltaic (PV) solar modules.
• Target Markets:
  • Space power beaming
  • Aerospace
  • Satellites
  • Near-earth orbiting vehicles
  • Fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
  • Agrivoltaics (agriculture combined with solar power)
• Technology:
  • Proprietary Copper-Indium-Gallium-diSelenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells
  • Monolithic integration on flexible plastic substrates
  • High power-to-weight ratio, highly durable, customizable form factors
• Market Position:
  • Focused on high-value, specialized applications where traditional rigid solar panels are unsuitable.
  • Believes its modules can overcome obstacles faced by other solar technologies in space and aerospace markets.
• Product Development:
  • Ongoing R&D on improving cell efficiency, aerial power generation, and reducing costs.
  • Focused on cell and aerial efficiency improvements, including buffer layer innovations.
• Manufacturing Strategy:
  • Uses roll-to-roll process to deposit thin CIGS layers on flexible substrates.
  • Proprietary monolithic integration techniques reduce costs and improve reliability.
  • Has limited current production capacity, focusing on high-value niche markets.

Company Details

• Employees:
  • As of December 31, 2024: 16 full-time employees, 4 part-time employees
• Revenue (2024):
  • Total product sales: $41,893
  • Compared to 2023: $397,886 (significantly decreased primarily due to earlier large customer order and supply agreement revenue not repeating)
• Net Income / Loss (2024):
  • Loss of $9,130,274
  • Compared to 2023: Loss of $17,069,896 (net loss decreased by approximately $7.9 million)
• Market Cap (as of June 30, 2024):
  • Approximately $9,506,400 (market value of stock held by non-affiliates)
• Outstanding Shares:
  • As of March 31, 2025: 1,705,984 shares of common stock issued and outstanding

Key Aspects

• Research & Development:
  • Invested approximately $2,300,948 in 2024
  • Focused on efficiency improvements, new product designs, and next-generation PV technologies
• Production & Capacity:
  • Limited current manufacturing scale
  • Focused on high-value, lower-volume applications rather than mass market.
• Customers:
  • Major customer in 2024 accounted for 53% of product revenue
  • In 2023, a Swiss customer accounted for 74% of total product revenue and a domestic customer for 23%
• Employees & Management:
  • Key executives include:
    • Paul Warley (President & CEO, since May 2023)
    • Jin Jo (CFO, since May 2023)
    • Bobby Gulati (COO, since May 2023)
  • Board members and executives have varied backgrounds with extensive experience in finance, aerospace, restructuring, and industry-specific technology.
• Ownership & Stockholders:
  • Significant Insider holdings, including officers and directors
  • One significant shareholder in 2023 (TubeSolar) held more than 5%
• Financial Position:
  • Working capital in 2024: $1,432,912
  • Cash and equivalents at year-end: $3,170,743
  • Total assets: $7,146,426
  • Total liabilities: $3,766,503
• Significant Financial and Business Risks:
  • Recurring losses and need for additional capital
  • Reliance on a small number of key customers
  • Technological and manufacturing development risks
  • Limited production scale and sales revenue
  • Market acceptance in niche high-value markets vs. mass solar markets

Summary

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. is a small, strategically focused solar tech company specializing in flexible, lightweight PV modules utilizing proprietary CIGS thin-film technology. The company targets high-value niche markets like aerospace and space applications, with a small but growing employee base and very limited revenue, primarily due to ongoing development and scale-up efforts. Its latest reported net loss for 2024 was over $9.1 million, with minimal current revenues and a heavy reliance on insider and external funding.