Latest on Solar Module Backsheets & Encapsulation

TaiyangNews has been summarizing the developments in the backsheets segment since 2017 in the form of market surveys. Previously, our coverage consisted of only the backsheets segment. However, given the complementary nature of the functionalities and the fact that some of the companies supply both encapsulants and backsheets, we decided to include both the segments in the same survey starting last year. For this second edition of our TaiyangNews Market Survey on Backsheet and Encapsulation Materials 2020, 13 companies responded, one less compared to last year. Of these, HIUV, Borealis and Sveck are 3 companies that are exclusive encapsulation material suppliers. Hangzhou First and Cybrid supply both backsheets and encapsulation materials. The remaining 8 survey participants are purely backsheet makers. These 13 suppliers have provided data for 89 products in total, of which 71 are backsheet models and 18 encapsulation materials.
Backsheet suppliers: The backsheets section of the survey has 10 participants, 2 less compared to last year. Two companies—Crown and Jingmao—did not respond despite our best efforts. The list of backsheet models in the survey has also shrunk, featuring 9 models less compared to 80 last year. As with our previous surveys, we have categorized these backsheet products into 2 segments—fluoropolymer based backsheets and non-fluoropolymer based backsheets. Fluoropolymer based backsheets are those that contain at least one layer of fluoropolymer in the backsheet configuration, while backsheets that are completely free from the halogen component are characterized as non-fluoropolymer products.
The number of products listed under these two sections has also reduced compared to last year. While the total number of fluoropolymer backsheets listed in the current survey dropped by 6 to 43, the list of non-fluoropolymer backsheets shrank further from 31 to 28.
A few companies among these exclusively sell non-fluoropolymer backsheets such as AGFA, DSM, B+K and Féron, while Coveme, Hangzhou First,  Lucky Film and ZTT supply both variants.  Cybrid and Jolywood, on the other hand, are not listing any non-fluoropolymer products as far as this survey is concerned.
In addition to the typical backsheet suppliers, important component suppliers such as DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, Arkema S.A. and Hangzhou Foremost Material Technology Co., Ltd. (Fumotech) from China have also provided inputs. However, since their products are not backsheets in and of themselves, their products are not included in the survey tables.
Encapsulation Material Suppliers: The survey includes top suppliers in the encapsulation segment. Hangzhou First, HIUV and Sveck are the top 3 companies in encapsulation, especially EVA. In addition to these market leaders, Cybrid is also promoting an EVA model, which brings the total number of EVA products listed in the survey to 12 compared to 10 last year. These four companies also supply non-EVA based encapsulation solutions. Borealis is the only company that is exclusively promoting polyolefin (POE) based encapsulation materials and a total of six models are listed under these five companies.
For more details about product information provided by companies download TaiyangNews Market Survey on Backsheet and Encapsulation Materials 2020, which can be downloaded for free here.
Our survey was launched during the TaiyangNews Reliable Module Design Conference (with recordings available on Youtube), where TaiyangNews presented the survey results and a number of the included companies presented details on encapsulants (HIUV) and backsheets (Jolywood, DuPont)