New Solar Materials Opportunities: Glass Frontsheets, Anti-Reflective Coatings

Much attention is paid to making photovoltaic modules more cost-effective by reducing the costs associated with the active materials. Indeed, silicon prices seem to be dropping (with estimates of somewhere between 5-7% for the first quarter of 2011, after similar drops in the fourth quarter 2010), despite double-digit growth in the polysilicon applications market. But there are also the nonactive materials components of PV units, which comprise about one-third of a crystalline silicon PV module's cost. A new report from Lux Research suggests that there are substantial new opportunities