Over the years, the solar industry has seen significant advancements in cell technologies, transitioning from BSF and PERC to today’s highly efficient TOPCon, HJT and even BC. With each new development, encapsulation materials must also evolve to provide optimal reliability and performance.
Bo Jin, overseas sales manager at HANGZHOU FIRST, summarized the past and present challenges in encapsulation. Earlier concerns primarily involved yellowing, adhesion, and potential-induced degradation (PID). However, as technologies progress, new challenges have emerged. For TOPCon modules, moisture ingress presents a significant issue, particularly in glass backsheet configurations where moisture can penetrate both from the edges and through the backsheet. In contrast, HJT modules face more complex challenges, including UV degradation, moisture sensitivity, and adhesion stability, all of which require specialized solutions. At the TaiyangNews Solar Technology Conference India 2025, InYoung Suh, Director of Business Development at Hangzhou First, will deliver a presentation on encapsulant materials and solutions for advanced solar cells and modules.
Price Development of Encapsulation Materials
In the encapsulant arena, the battle isn’t solely about performance – price plays a crucial role as well. In the cost-conscious world of solar, where materials dominate the expense sheet, tracking encapsulant prices is essential, especially given the severe cost pressures currently affecting the sector. It’s important to note that the price ranges are derived from collective responses from leading encapsulation suppliers and open sources. Consequently, these prices may not be entirely accurate and cannot be directly attributed to a source, but they can serve as a reference.
Among the encapsulation materials, EVA stands out as the leading variant, and its prices have changed significantly – primarily declining – during 2023 and 2024. At the start of 2023, prices were relatively high, reaching a peak of 11 RMB/m² in March. However, a downward trend began in the second quarter, with prices steadily declining to 8.5 RMB/m² by June, and continuing to fall to a low of 7.5 RMB/m² in December. This downward trajectory persisted into 2024. While prices remained between 7 and 7.5 RMB/m² for most of the first half, they began to fall during the second half, reaching 6 RMB/m² by December 2024 (see Trends & Key Players In The Global Solar Encapsulation Market).
White EVA, typically 10% more expensive than its transparent variant, followed a nearly identical price trend. Turning to POE, the market offers both a 380 GSM variant and a thicker 460 GSM version; however, data is only available for the thinner, mainstream variant. Like EVA, POE prices peaked in the first quarter of 2023 at 17 RMB/m², then dropped to around 12.5 RMB/m² by the end of the first half. Although the latter part of the year saw a decline, it was less pronounced, stabilizing at around 12 RMB/m². In 2024, the price decrease for POE was even more significant – prices dropped from about 11.5 to 9.5 RMB/m² during the first half and further declined to 7.5 RMB/m² by year-end.
EPE, which is a combination of EVA and POE, follows a blended price trend of these 2 polymers. EPE prices peaked in the first quarter of 2023 at 13.5 RMB/m², then fell to 10.5 RMB/m² by the end of the first half. In the second half of the year, prices fluctuated between 9.5 and 12 RMB/m², and during the first half of 2024, they varied between 9 and 10 RMB/m² before dropping further to 7 RMB/m² by December 2024.
