Flexible PV Cell Market

A flexible PV cell which is also known as thin film solar cell that is made by depositing very thin layers of photovoltaics material on any kind of substrate, such as, paper, tissue, plastic, glass or metal. It is one of the most revolutionary and epoch making technologies in the sector of solar energy.

The significance of the word ?flexible? is that, these kind of solar cells are not like those traditional big, bulky solar panels which is very common nowadays, these are literally flexible, very thin, lightweight, have very little installation cost and can be installed anywhere without going much trouble.

Thickness of a typical cell varies from a few nanometers to few micrometers, whereas its?s predecessor crystalline-silicon solar cell (c-Si) has a wafer size up to 200 micrometers.

In Flexible PV Cell Market , we define flexible PV cells as PV modues fabricated on flexible substrate materials (most commonly used substrates are polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and metal foils such as stainless steel (SS) and titanium (Ti)), including flexible a-Si thin ?lm cells, flexible CIGS cells, flexible CdTe cells, OPV cells, flexible DSSC and flexible perovskite PV.

Silicon (Si) solar cells dominate the PV market (92%) followed by cadmium telluride (CdTe, 5%), copper indium gallium selenide (CuInGaSe2or CIGS, 2%) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H, ~1%). Si wafer with thickness around 180 ?m is the traditional materialbeing used for module manufacturing and it has attained signi?cant level of maturity at the industrial level. Its production cost is amajor concern for energy applications. About 50% of the cost of Si solar cells production is due to Si substrate, and device processingand module processing accounts for 20% and 30% respectively.

An alternate to Si solar cells is the thin ?lm solar cells fabricated on glass substrates. The main demerits of using glass substratesare fragile nature of modules, cost of glass wafer having thickness of 300?400 ?m, and low speci?c power (kW/kg) etc. Speci?c poweris an important factor when solar cells are used in space applications. A high speci?c power exceeding 2 kW/kg can be achieved by ?exible solar cells on polymer ?lms which is useful for terrestrial as well as space applications. Production cost can be lowered byusing ?exible substrates and roll-to-roll production (R2R) technique. Apart from light weight, ?exibility and less cost of installation,?exible cell processing involves low thermal budget with low material consumption. Other than solar cell applications, smallerspecialized applications are beginning to become more viable independent markets, including applications for mobile power and building or product integration, which can bene?t greatly from ?exible thin ?lm options. Flexible cells on buildings (known asbuilding integrated photovoltaics or BIPV) can minimize the cost of support, shipments etc., and installations can be handled easily. However, ?exible solar cell technology is less mature when compared to the cells fabricated on rigid substrate counterpart.

Due to four main requirements - high e?ciency, low-cost production, high throughput and high speci?c power, a major researchand development focus has been shifted towards ?exible solar cells. It can o?er a unique way to reach terawatt scale installation byusing high throughput R2R fabrication technique. Most commonly used substrates are polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and metal foils such as stainless steel (SS) and titanium (Ti).

The performance of ?exible solar cells is comparable to rigid substrates. Flexible substrates are more advantageous than standardsoda-lime glass (SLG) substrates. As mentioned below, there are several merits of using ?exible substrates:

? Flexible modules are best suited for curved surfaces and used in BIPV. Since modules are produced from thin ?lm materials it issuitable for mass production.

? An important bene?t is that it has potential to reduce the production cost. R2R deposition is bene?cial in terms of production costthan that of rigid substrates. Glass cover is an added expense when rigid substrates are used.

? Materials required to produce CIGS, CdTe and a-Si:H ?exible modules are much cheaper than conventional Si wafer, glass cover,frames used in Si modules.

? For roof top application, ?exible modules are ideal due to light weight. Using lightweight support, it can be installed over the rooftop where glass covered conventional heavy and bulky Si modules are not suitable when roof test fails due to an added weight andstructural issues. Flexible modules can also be installed over the roof of the vehicle, uneven surfaces of building.

? Installation/labor cost is much lower for ?exible modules due to less installation time since racking assembly, glass cover etc. arenot required.

? Low power output ?exible modules for example a-Si:H require large number of modules to get desired output which can beinstalled easily above the roof top.

? Glass covered rigid modules are fragile. Flexible modules are not fragile it can be rolled up, transported and handled easily.

Photovoltaic (PV) technologies are basically divided into two big categories: wafer-based PV (also called 1st generation PV) and thin-film cell PV. The emerging thin-film PVs are also called 3rd generation PVs, which refer to PVs using technologies that have the potential to overcome Shockley-Queisser limit or are based on novel semiconductors. The 3rd generation PVs include DSSC, organic photovoltaic (OPV), quantum dot (QD) PV and perovskite PV. The cell efficiencies of perovskite are approaching that of commercialized 2nd generation technologies such as CdTe and CIGS. Other emerging PV technologies are still struggling with lab cell efficiencies lower than 15%.

Flexible PV Cell Market contains market size and forecasts of Flexible PV Cell in global, including the following market information:

Global Flexible PV Cell Market Revenue, 2017-2022, 2023-2028, ($ millions)

Global Flexible PV Cell Market Sales, 2017-2022, 2023-2028, (MW)

Global top five Flexible PV Cell companies in 2021 (%)

The global Flexible PV Cell market was valued at 26 million in 2021 and is projected to reach US$ 35 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $ Million in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $ Million by 2028.

CIGS Segment to Reach $ Million by 2028, with a % CAGR in next six years.

The global key manufacturers of Flexible PV Cell include PowerFilm, Inc., Panasonic, infinityPV, Flisom, Sun Harmonics, F-WAVE Company, Heliatek GmbH, HyET Solar and Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. etc. In 2021, the global top five players have a share approximately % in terms of revenue.

We surveyed the Flexible PV Cell manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and industry experts on this industry, involving the sales, revenue, demand, price change, product type, recent development and plan, industry trends, drivers, challenges, obstacles, and potential risks.

Total Market by Segment:

Global Flexible PV Cell Market, by Type, 2017-2022, 2023-2028 ($ Millions) & (MW)

Global Flexible PV Cell Market Segment Percentages, by Type, 2021 (%)

CIGS

a-Si

OPV

Others

Global Flexible PV Cell Market, by Application, 2017-2022, 2023-2028 ($ Millions) & (MW)

Global Flexible PV Cell Market Segment Percentages, by Application, 2021 (%)

BIPV

Transportation & Mobility

Defense & Aerospace

Consumer & Portable Power

Others

Global Flexible PV Cell Market, By Region and Country, 2017-2022, 2023-2028 ($ Millions) & (MW)

Global Flexible PV Cell Market Segment Percentages, By Region and Country, 2021 (%)

North America

US

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

France

U.K.

Italy

Russia

Nordic Countries

Benelux

Rest of Europe

Asia

China

Japan

South Korea

Southeast Asia

India

Rest of Asia

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of South America

Middle East & Africa

Turkey

Israel

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Competitor Analysis

The report also provides analysis of leading market participants including:

Key companies Flexible PV Cell revenues in global market, 2017-2022 (Estimated), ($ millions)

Key companies Flexible PV Cell revenues share in global market, 2021 (%)

Key companies Flexible PV Cell sales in global market, 2017-2022 (Estimated), (MW)

Key companies Flexible PV Cell sales share in global market, 2021 (%)

Further, the report presents profiles of competitors in the market, key players include:

PowerFilm, Inc.

Panasonic

infinityPV

Flisom

Sun Harmonics

F-WAVE Company

Heliatek GmbH

HyET Solar

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc