Solyndra has inked a $189 million deal to sell its usually shaped solar panels to SunConnex in the Netherlands.  

The Fremont, Calif.-based startup didn't say when it would start delivering the panels, but disclosed that the contract is good through 2013. Amsterdam-based SunConnex is a distributor who also offers solar project engineering services, and lists on its website Schott Solar, Sharp and SunPower as some of its suppliers.

With this deal, Solyndra has announced nearly $1.7 billion worth of contracts. That's good news for a startup company, especially one pursuing a type of technology that is new to the market. But all these agreements also are putting pressure on the company to increase production.

Speaking of production, the company hasn't disclosed publicly the production rate and shipment volumes at its first and only manufacturing complex. Last fall, Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet said the company began shipping panels last July, and the company was speeding up production at the factory, which could produce 110 megawatts of panels per year.

The company wants to build a second, 500-megawatt factory next year, and is set to receive a federal loan of $535 million to do just that. The loan would cover 73 percent of the project's costs, and Solyndra hasn't said whether it's raised money for the rest.

Solyndra's panels are lined with tubes containing solar cells that are made with copper, indium, gallium and selenium. Most of the solar panels on the market today use crystalline silicon as the ingredient for converting sunlight into electricity.