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2025
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06
Trends in EVA Film Technology for Photovoltaic Applications
Photovoltaic encapsulant films are used to bond solar cells and cover glass, with technological upgrades occurring at the system level. As cell technologies have become increasingly stable, even in the face of industry trends toward new cell architectures such as PERC‑to‑TOPCon and HIT, encapsulant materials can generally meet evolving requirements. Older production lines can only be upgraded by modifying certain process steps and equipment. The prevailing technological trend is to enhance reliability while maintaining performance, all while achieving stringent cost control.
Photovoltaic encapsulant films are used to bond solar cells and cover glass, with technological upgrades occurring at the system level. As cell technologies have become increasingly stable, even in the face of industry trends toward new cell architectures such as PERC‑to‑TOPCon and HIT, encapsulant materials can generally meet evolving requirements. Older production lines can only be upgraded by modifying certain process steps and equipment. The prevailing technological trend is to enhance reliability while maintaining performance, all while achieving stringent cost control.
Over the next five years, demand for photovoltaic encapsulant film is expected to more than double. Technological advancements are driving continuous increases in module power, which gradually dilutes the amount of encapsulant film required per gigawatt; however, rapid growth in installed capacity ensures robust demand. Global demand for photovoltaic encapsulant film is projected to exceed 4 billion square meters by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 20% from 2020 to 2025.
The application scenarios of four typical photovoltaic encapsulant films are gradually becoming clearer:
(1) Transparent and white EVA encapsulant films: Currently, single‑glass modules typically use conventional transparent EVA film and white film for encapsulation. The white EVA film boasts a high reflectance; when used as the backsheet adhesive, it can effectively enhance the reflection of incident light within the module gap and improve the transmission of light through the module, thereby increasing module efficiency by 1–3 W.
(2) POE encapsulant film: Due to the severe PID degradation issues in double-glass modules and n-type cells, EVA resin can be replaced with POE resin, which offers superior water resistance, weatherability, and light transmittance, giving rise to the POE encapsulant film.
(3) Multi-layer co-extruded POE encapsulant film (EPE film, with an EVA/POE/EVA structure): Due to the monopoly of POE resin by a handful of foreign petrochemical companies and its high cost, component lamination often results in numerous air bubbles, leading to increased rates of localized delamination and parallel‑bonding defects, as well as longer lamination times. Haiyou New Materials has innovatively developed a multi-layer co-extruded POE encapsulant film that not only retains POE’s excellent PID‑resistance but also delivers higher yield rates and improved lamination efficiency compared to conventional EVA films, while reducing POE usage and achieving cost reduction and efficiency gains. Currently, leading module manufacturers are importing and deploying this product on a large scale. (Source: Future Think Tank)
As bifacial module and n-type cell technologies gain traction, the share of high‑quality encapsulant films has been steadily rising. According to CPIA data, although transparent EVA film remained the market’s dominant product in 2020, accounting for 56.7% of the market, its share declined by 12.9 percentage points compared with 2019—primarily due to the increasing proportion of bifacial modules and the rise in EVA resin prices. This lost share has largely been captured by POE and EPE films. With further penetration of bifacial modules and n‑type cells, the respective shares of transparent EVA, white EVA, POE, and co‑extruded films are projected to reach 48%, 19%, 11%, and 21% by 2025.
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