The true cost of broken backsheets in the solar industry
Across the solar industry, backsheets can deliver outstanding benefits, both for performance and solar projects’ net present value (NPV) – but only when they work well. In fact, backsheet failure is all too common: in 2020, $260 million CAPEX is expected to be lost due to early backsheet failures. Materials supplier DSM has developed a high-quality solution to mitigate this issue – a polyolefin-core, co-extruded Endurance backsheet that can drive the long-term viability of solar modules. PES meets with Vivek Chaturvedi, new business lead for DSM’s Endurance backsheets, to discuss how this backsheet works and how DSM hopes to further penetrate the market.
PES: Welcome back to PES. Could you briefly introduce DSM again and the role it plays in the solar industry?
Vivek Chaturvedi: DSM is a global science-based company in health, nutrition, and sustainable living. Our mission is to create brighter lives for all, with a particular focus on addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, we have more than 50 years’ experience in materials science, over a broad range of industries. DSM Advanced Solar develops material technologies that boost the power generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and reduce the cost of solar energy.
With more than one billion people in the world still without access to electricity, our mission in solar is to make affordable solar energy available for all. Within this mission, we aim to address three SDGs in particular: #7 (access to affordable, clean energy); #12 (responsible consumption and production); and #13 (taking urgent action to combat climate change). We do this by developing sustainable material technologies that lower the cost of solar energy, supported by R&D facilities in Europe, China, the USA, India, and Japan. Increasingly, we are focused on solar backsheets.
PES: In your opinion, what were the biggest changes in the solar market last year?
VC: The solar market is experiencing dramatic change and new developments are driving cost of solar power down to newer levels, making it more affordable and relevant for new geographies. One big change in 2019 was the rise of bifacial modules, which allow light to reach the cells from both sides. This technology has been around for a while but its adoption picked up last year, driven by improvements in cell technology.
Another significant change was the widespread increase in system voltage from 1,000 to 1,500 volts, which we think will become the standard utility segment system voltage in 2020. Finally, the Chinese solar market’s growth slowed down last year – the global solar market’s 10% growth this year was driven by other regions. In particular, we saw greater growth from regions of the world with harsher climate conditions.
