Featured in Fruits of our labour – 03-2021

Bifacial drives encapsulant switch

Suppliers of encapsulant materials – plastic sheets that are heated to laminate together the components in PV module stacks – are rapidly expanding to keep pace with module manufacturing in Asia and other parts of the world. Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) continues to dominate the market, but new developments in module technology are driving a slow shift to more costly polyolefins.

By

Mark Hutchins

09 Mar 2021

Image: Borealis

Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) has long been the material of choice for the encapsulation of silicon PV modules. Cheap and easy to process, EVA benefits from an established, cost-optimized supply chain, alongside decades of research for its specialized application in PV modules. This has left few opportunities for other materials to gain market traction. However, …

This article is part of pv+

Subscribe digitally to unlock exclusive investigative reporting, expert insights, in-depth analysis, and premium background coverage. Your subscription also includes full access to the digital edition of our magazine.