Ascent Solar, the Thornton-based maker of flexible solar panels, has cut its workforce and expenses in half to preserve cash, according to company filings.
Last September, Ascent had 167 employees, including contractors. It now has 85, according to its quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
The cuts are part of an effort to reposition the company to focus on high-value niche markets, such as solar panels for the military, for vehicles and consumer goods.
“The markets Ascent is pursuing are very young . . . nonexistent,” said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates. “It is going to take time for them to develop.
“It’s painful, but if the company hadn’t taken these steps it could have run out of money in 2011,” Molchanov said. “They bought themselves some more time.”
The cuts in jobs and other expenses will reduce the company’s spending to $4 million in the second quarter of 2011 compared with $7.5 million in the first quarter, said Ron Eller, Ascent’s chief executive, in a call with analysts.
Ascent is working with a number of partners, such as the luggage company Samsonite, on a wide range of products. The company is also set to test a tent for the military that has solar panels on its flaps.
The solar panels are made of a razor-thin layer of copper, indium and gallium selenide — known as CIGS — on a plastic base, creating lightweight and durable product.
Eller said it is “taking longer to dial in the technology” to make products.
Eller took over March 31 as chief executive, replacing Farhad Moghadam, and announced the company was moving away from solar panels for rooftop building products to focus on high-value markets.
In the two days following the announcement, Ascent stock plunged 43 percent to $1.65 a share.
Ascent shares closed Thursday at $1.58 — the lowest they have been since the company went public in 2006, according to Bloomberg.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
