How much is the non-silicon cost of double-glass components

What if the PV industry doesn't have new glass production plants?

Thousands of new glass manufacturing plants needed for the growing PV industry. As module prices decline, glass makes an even higher fraction of the PV module cost. Without new glass production PV industry could experience shortage within 20 years. Shortage of glass production could drive up the cost especially of thin-film modules.

How did developments in the semiconductor industry affect the price of silicon?

As noted earlier the price of silicon was also affected by developments in the semiconductor industry. Summing the cost reductions from these three variables would give us an estimate of 23% of PV's cost reduction coming from developments outside the PV industry in 1980–2012. 4.3. Prospective cost reductions

Does decreasing silicon usage reduce module cost?

Decreasing silicon usage contributed 15% to module cost reduction in 1980–2001 and 8% in 2001–2012. Silicon usage depends on wafer thickness h and silicon utilization U. To study the total cost reduction from both variables, we defined the combination v ≡ h / U.

Why did silicon cost decrease in 2001-2012?

Reduced thickness and higher utilization contributed about equally to the silicon cost reduction in this period. Silicon usage continued to decrease in 2001–2012, though it had a less significant cost impact. The industry developed thinner wafers both to reduce the cost of silicon and to increase conversion efficiency ( Goetzberger et al., 2003 ).

How much does a glass module weigh?

The weight of glass-glass modules are still an issue, with current designs using 2 mm thick glass on each side for framed modules, the weight is about 22 kg, while 2.5 mm on each side will increase the module’s weight to 23 kg. Compared to traditional glass-foil modules, which are about 18 kg, this is a 20% increase in weight.

How much glass do you need for a solar module?

Thus, for each square meter of a solar module, 2 of glass is required. Other thin film modules are a mix, some using two plates of glass for each module, some only a single plate, or some other type of substrate. Thin-film PV production is expected to continue to grow faster than the industry as a whole due to lower production costs.