Ascent Solar’s Q1/2019 revenue down 43% year-on-year, but losses halved through focusing on high-margin tier-1 specialty PV markets

For first-quarter 2019, Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA – which makes lightweight, flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic modules that can be integrated into consumer products, off-grid applications and aerospace applications – has reported revenue of $215,000, down 43% on $378,000 a year ago.

However, cost of revenue has been reduced sharply (by 67%) since first-quarter 2017, from $273,000 to $91,000, due to the firm’s primary focus on high-margin tier-1 specialty PV markets.

Operating loss has improved sharply by about 55%, cut from $2.1m a year ago to $0.94m, due mainly to the continuous streamlining of the firm’s operation and business model, as well as progressive cost-reduction initiatives in manufacturing and R&D operations plus lower depreciation & amortization.

Going forward, operating expenses are expected to remain manageable at the current level, and should show continued improvement as the firm continues to restructure and streamline its operations in 2019.

Despite the operating loss, the firm recorded a net profit of $3.24m (compared with a net loss of $4.4m a year ago). This was due to a net gain in non-cash items of $4.2m in non-cash interest expense, change in fair value of derivatives and gain/loss on extinguishment of liabilities associated with the outstanding convertible notes.

“We will continue to streamline our business model to better focus on our core strength in the tier-1 specialty PV markets with high entry barriers like the space and near-space, aviation (drones), military, first responders and emergency power markets,” says president & CEO Victor Lee. “The company has made significant progress in these high-value markets, and will continue to sharpen our focus in such areas where Ascent is truly at the forefront of the competition. Most notably, Ascent’s superlight thin-film modules were selected and launched by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to the International Space Station on 17 November 2018 as part of the MISSE-X flight experiment. Other notable milestones include our continuous development effort with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)’s SolarPowerSail project utilizing Ascent’s superlight thin-film modules, as well as German Aerospace Center (DLR)’s selection of our PV technology for further testing and evaluation for deep space mission. Our effort of being the first and only flexible CIGS manufacturer to have achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification has enabled us to serve a larger universe of premium-market customers who prefer products manufactured under a superlative Quality Management System and must be as robust and fail proof as possible,” he adds.

“Great progress was also made in the defense and emergency power market, which we believe will add to revenue growth in 2020 and beyond,” Lee continues. “We are optimistic and certainly look forward to stronger years ahead, as our high-value PV market focus begins to take shape.”

Tags: Ascent Solar CIGS

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