A Polish photovoltaic company is poised to make its mark on the New York skyline. ML System has secured a contract to supply PhotonWall photovoltaic panels for a 55-storey residential tower in Long Island City – its first high-rise project in the United States. The installation, covering 2,600 square metres, will generate roughly 102 MWh of solar electricity a year.
The client is Helios Facade LLC, an American company specialising in building-integrated photovoltaic facades and supplying energy-active facades for high-rise buildings. Deliveries will take place between September and December 2026. The project is seen by ML System as part of its export expansion strategy and its push to build a direct presence in the US market.
– This is a breakthrough contract for ML System – the company’s first implementation in a high-rise building in the United States, and at the same time in such a large residential facility. The project confirms the effectiveness of a strategy based on the development of standardised products, export expansion and direct presence on the American market. We count on it becoming a starting point for further implementations in the USA – said Dawid Cycoń, vice-president of ML System.
European track record
ML System is not new to skyscrapers. Its European references include a tower in Vienna, a 16-storey, 50-metre apartment building in Helsinki and the 27-storey, 108-metre Oslo Spektrum complex in Norway. The Vienna and New York buildings have a similar volume, but the American tower will be taller than the 175-metre Austrian high-rise, making it the tallest structure on which ML System has installed its photovoltaic cladding to date.
Helios Facade says the Long Island City skyscraper is the first of several projects in its order book where the facade partially finances itself thanks to energy production. The company stresses that the PV system is not just a design feature, but a functional element that has to meet strict building codes while generating power.
– Applying a photovoltaic facade to a 200-metre residential building in New York is not a designer project, but one with real benefits. The system must simultaneously function as a building cladding and produce energy. We provide stick-frame curtain wall systems that generate clean energy, meet building code requirements, including the New York City Energy Conservation Code, and help building owners stay ahead of the carbon emission limits resulting from Local Law 97 – explained Zev Laine, founder and CEO of Helios Facade LLC.
Research and development behind the panels
ML System is a technology company with a strong research and laboratory base, specialising in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). Its offer includes a broad portfolio of traditional PV products, Smart City solutions and specialist glass, including products for the automotive industry. Manufacturing facilities, warehouses and an R&D centre cover more than 40,000 square metres, and the company holds 20 patents, with three more applications still pending.
The company has also been conducting research since 2020 into the use of quantum physics in professional medical diagnostics. In 2021, it launched the world’s first production line for transparent glass with a quantum coating that generates electricity.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Mike Shinzo / Pexels
