The main driver for using these new materials will be the need to support flexible PV in order to reduce PV panel costs using R2R processes and the rise of “intrinsically flexible products; notably those used for building-integrated PV (BIPV).”
In total, the TFPV substrate/encapsulation market is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2015, going on to reach $1.8 billion by 2017. And while some of the most advanced encapsulation systems have proved difficult to develop and come with a high cost, NanoMarkets has identified several areas where these systems are beginning to make economic sense, most notably in the CIGS sector.
Additional details about the report, “Encapsulation and Flexible Substrates for Thin-Film Photovoltaics” are available at www.nanomarkets.net.
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New NanoMarkets Report Pegs Thin-Film PV Substrate and Encapsulation Market at $1.3 billion by 2015
A new report from industry analyst firm NanoMarkets says that, while glass will continue to dominate substrate and encapsulation materials used for thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV), new materials including metal foils, plastics, ceramics and composites will grow rapidly in importance.