Photovoltaic glass, as a special glass for solar cell cover plates, plays a crucial role. It not only protects the solar panel from the oxidation and corrosion of external moisture and gas, but also protects the component from external damage. The core properties of photovoltaic glass are its high light transmittance, high strength and strong corrosion resistance. These characteristics directly affect the life and power generation efficiency of photovoltaic modules.
The superior transmittance of photovoltaic glass is the key to improve the efficiency of power generation. The higher the transmittance, the higher the power generation efficiency of the photovoltaic module. Ultra-white glass is the only choice for making photovoltaic glass because of its excellent light transmission properties. It is made by deep processing processes such as toughening, coating, and glazing to achieve the required physical and chemical characteristics. The iron content of ultra-white glass is less than 0.015%, which is much lower than that of ordinary glass, thus ensuring a light transmittance of up to 91.5%, which is about 3% higher than that of ordinary tempered glass. In addition, the low content of impurities such as nickel sulfide in the ultra-white glass enhances its impact resistance and improves the explosion-proof rate.
According to the differences in manufacturing process and application scenarios, photovoltaic glass can be divided into ultra-white rolled glass and ultra-white float glass. Ultra-white rolled glass is mainly used in crystalline silicon cell components, while ultra-white float glass is more used in thin film cell components. In the current market, due to the high light transmittance of ultra-white rolled photovoltaic glass and the main share of crystalline silicon cell modules in the market, ultra-white rolled photovoltaic glass has become the mainstream photovoltaic glass type in the market.
China's photovoltaic glass industry is currently in a stage of rapid growth, this development trend is mainly driven by the growth of photovoltaic module installed capacity and double glass module penetration. Under the guidance of the national carbon peak and carbon neutral strategy, the proportion of clean energy use in China is rising, of which photovoltaic power generation occupies an important position. Since 2018, the proportion of new photovoltaic power generation in new infrastructure power generation in China has continued to grow, reaching 12.9% by 2021. This trend reflects China's important progress in the field of clean energy and the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry.
At present, China has become the world's largest photovoltaic installed capacity. It is expected that by 2026, China's PV installed capacity will reach about 1,000 GW. The rapid growth of photovoltaic module installed capacity has not only promoted the development of the photovoltaic industry, but also brought huge growth opportunities for the photovoltaic glass industry. China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) predicts that the penetration rate of double-glass photovoltaic modules will continue to increase in the future. Due to the greater demand for photovoltaic glass compared to single-glass photovoltaic modules, this will further promote the growth of the photovoltaic glass industry.