Global Flexible PV Cell Market Research Report 2022 (Status and Outlook)

A flexible PV cell which is also known as thin film solar cell that is made by depositing very thin layers of photovoltaics material on any kind of substrate, such as, paper, tissue, plastic, glass or metal. It is one of the most revolutionary and epoch making technologies in the sector of solar energy.

The significance of the word “flexible” is that, these kind of solar cells are not like those traditional big, bulky solar panels which is very common nowadays, these are literally flexible, very thin, lightweight, have very little installation cost and can be installed anywhere without going much trouble.

Thickness of a typical cell varies from a few nanometers to few micrometers, whereas its’s predecessor crystalline-silicon solar cell (c-Si) has a wafer size up to 200 micrometers.

In this report, we define flexible PV cells as PV modues fabricated on flexible substrate materials (most commonly used substrates are polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and metal foils such as stainless steel (SS) and titanium (Ti)), including flexible a-Si thin film cells, flexible CIGS cells, flexible CdTe cells, OPV cells, flexible DSSC and flexible perovskite PV.

Silicon (Si) solar cells dominate the PV market (92%) followed by cadmium telluride (CdTe, 5%), copper indium gallium selenide (CuInGaSe2or CIGS, 2%) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H, ~1%). Si wafer with thickness around 180 μm is the traditional materialbeing used for module manufacturing and it has attained significant level of maturity at the industrial level. Its production cost is amajor concern for energy applications. About 50% of the cost of Si solar cells production is due to Si substrate, and device processingand module processing accounts for 20% and 30% respectively.

An alternate to Si solar cells is the thin film solar cells fabricated on glass substrates. The main demerits of using glass substratesare fragile nature of modules, cost of glass wafer having thickness of 300–400 μm, and low specific power (kW/kg) etc. Specific poweris an important factor when solar cells are used in space applications. A high specific power exceeding 2 kW/kg can be achieved by flexible solar cells on polymer films which is useful for terrestrial as well as space applications. Production cost can be lowered byusing flexible substrates and roll-to-roll production (R2R) technique. Apart from light weight, flexibility and less cost of installation,flexible cell processing involves low thermal budget with low material consumption. Other than solar cell applications, smallerspecialized applications are beginning to become more viable independent markets, including applications for mobile power and building or product integration, which can benefit greatly from flexible thin film options. Flexible cells on buildings (known asbuilding integrated photovoltaics or BIPV) can minimize the cost of support, shipments etc., and installations can be handled easily. However, flexible solar cell technology is less mature when compared to the cells fabricated on rigid substrate counterpart.

Due to four main requirements - high efficiency, low-cost production, high throughput and high specific power, a major researchand development focus has been shifted towards flexible solar cells. It can offer a unique way to reach terawatt scale installation byusing high throughput R2R fabrication technique. Most commonly used substrates are polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and metal foils such as stainless steel (SS) and titanium (Ti).

The performance of flexible solar cells is comparable to rigid substrates. Flexible substrates are more advantageous than standardsoda-lime glass (SLG) substrates. As mentioned below, there are several merits of using flexible substrates:

• Flexible modules are best suited for curved surfaces and used in BIPV. Since modules are produced from thin film materials it issuitable for mass production.

• An important benefit is that it has potential to reduce the production cost. R2R deposition is beneficial in terms of production costthan that of rigid substrates. Glass cover is an added expense when rigid substrates are used.

• Materials required to produce CIGS, CdTe and a-Si:H flexible modules are much cheaper than conventional Si wafer, glass cover,frames used in Si modules.

• For roof top application, flexible modules are ideal due to light weight. Using lightweight support, it can be installed over the rooftop where glass covered conventional heavy and bulky Si modules are not suitable when roof test fails due to an added weight andstructural issues. Flexible modules can also be installed over the roof of the vehicle, uneven surfaces of building.

• Installation/labor cost is much lower for flexible modules due to less installation time since racking assembly, glass cover etc. arenot required.

• Low power output flexible modules for example a-Si:H require large number of modules to get desired output which can beinstalled easily above the roof top.

• Glass covered rigid modules are fragile. Flexible modules are not fragile it can be rolled up, transported and handled easily.

Photovoltaic (PV) technologies are basically divided into two big categories: wafer-based PV (also called 1st generation PV) and thin-film cell PV. The emerging thin-film PVs are also called 3rd generation PVs, which refer to PVs using technologies that have the potential to overcome Shockley-Queisser limit or are based on novel semiconductors. The 3rd generation PVs include DSSC, organic photovoltaic (OPV), quantum dot (QD) PV and perovskite PV. The cell efficiencies of perovskite are approaching that of commercialized 2nd generation technologies such as CdTe and CIGS. Other emerging PV technologies are still struggling with lab cell efficiencies lower than 15%.

In the industry, Sun Harmonics shipments most in 2019 and recent years, while HyET Solar and PowerFilm, Inc. ranked 2 and 3. The top 3 Flexible PV Cell manufacturers accounted for around 62% revenue market share in 2019.

The manufacturer headquarters is mainly distributed in North America, Europe, China and Japan.

There are six types of Flexible PV Cell including Flexible CIGS Solar Cells, Flexible a-Si Solar Cells, Organic Solar Cells (OPV), Flexible CdTe Solar Cells, Flexible DSSC, Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells. In addition, the application consists of BIPV, Transportation and Mobility, Defense and Aerospace, Consumer and Portable Power. BIPV occupied nearly 51% of global flexible PV Cell sales market share in 2019.

The Global Flexible PV Cell Market Size was estimated at USD 24.03 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 33.58 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.90% during the forecast period.

This report provides a deep insight into the global Flexible PV Cell market covering all its essential aspects. This ranges from a macro overview of the market to micro details of the market size, competitive landscape, development trend, niche market, key market drivers and challenges, SWOT analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis, value chain analysis, etc.

The analysis helps the reader to shape the competition within the industries and strategies for the competitive environment to enhance the potential profit. Furthermore, it provides a simple framework for evaluating and accessing the position of the business organization. The report structure also focuses on the competitive landscape of the Global Flexible PV Cell Market, this report introduces in detail the market share, market performance, product situation, operation situation, etc. of the main players, which helps the readers in the industry to identify the main competitors and deeply understand the competition pattern of the market.

In a word, this report is a must-read for industry players, investors, researchers, consultants, business strategists, and all those who have any kind of stake or are planning to foray into the Flexible PV Cell market in any manner.

Global Flexible PV Cell Market: Market Segmentation Analysis

The research report includes specific segments by region (country), manufacturers, Type, and Application. Market segmentation creates subsets of a market based on product type, end-user or application, Geographic, and other factors. By understanding the market segments, the decision-maker can leverage this targeting in the product, sales, and marketing strategies. Market segments can power your product development cycles by informing how you create product offerings for different segments.

Key Company

• PowerFilm, Inc.
• Panasonic
• infinityPV
• Flisom
• Sun Harmonics
• F-WAVE Company
• Heliatek GmbH
• HyET Solar
• Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc

• CIGS
• a-Si
• OPV
• Others

• BIPV
• Transportation and Mobility
• Defense and Aerospace
• Consumer and Portable Power
• Others

Geographic Segmentation

• North America (USA, Canada, Mexico)
• Europe (Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy, Rest of Europe)
• Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia-Pacific)
• South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Rest of South America)
• The Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Rest of MEA)

Key Benefits of This Market Research:

• Industry drivers, restraints, and opportunities covered in the study
• Neutral perspective on the market performance
• Recent industry trends and developments
• Competitive landscape & strategies of key players
• Potential & niche segments and regions exhibiting promising growth covered
• Historical, current, and projected market size, in terms of value
• In-depth analysis of the Flexible PV Cell Market
• Overview of the regional outlook of the Flexible PV Cell Market:

Key Reasons to Buy this Report:

• Access to date statistics compiled by our researchers. These provide you with historical and forecast data, which is analyzed to tell you why your market is set to change
• This enables you to anticipate market changes to remain ahead of your competitors
• You will be able to copy data from the Excel spreadsheet straight into your marketing plans, business presentations, or other strategic documents
• The concise analysis, clear graph, and table format will enable you to pinpoint the information you require quickly
• Provision of market value (USD Billion) data for each segment and sub-segment
• Indicates the region and segment that is expected to witness the fastest growth as well as to dominate the market
• Analysis by geography highlighting the consumption of the product/service in the region as well as indicating the factors that are affecting the market within each region
• Competitive landscape which incorporates the market ranking of the major players, along with new service/product launches, partnerships, business expansions, and acquisitions in the past five years of companies profiled
• Extensive company profiles comprising of company overview, company insights, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis for the major market players
• The current as well as the future market outlook of the industry concerning recent developments which involve growth opportunities and drivers as well as challenges and restraints of both emerging as well as developed regions
• Includes in-depth analysis of the market from various perspectives through Porter’s five forces analysis
• Provides insight into the market through Value Chain
• Market dynamics scenario, along with growth opportunities of the market in the years to come
• 6-month post-sales analyst support

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Chapter Outline

Chapter 1 mainly introduces the statistical scope of the report, market division standards, and market research methods.

Chapter 2 is an executive summary of different market segments (by region, product type, application, etc), including the market size of each market segment, future development potential, and so on. It offers a high-level view of the current state of the Flexible PV Cell Market and its likely evolution in the short to mid-term, and long term.

Chapter 3 makes a detailed analysis of the Market's Competitive Landscape of the market and provides the market share, capacity, output, price, latest development plan, merger, and acquisition information of the main manufacturers in the market.

Chapter 4 is the analysis of the whole market industrial chain, including the upstream and downstream of the industry, as well as Porter's five forces analysis.

Chapter 5 introduces the latest developments of the market, the driving factors and restrictive factors of the market, the challenges and risks faced by manufacturers in the industry, and the analysis of relevant policies in the industry.

Chapter 6 provides the analysis of various market segments according to product types, covering the market size and development potential of each market segment, to help readers find the Flexible PV Cell market in different market segments.

Chapter 7 provides the analysis of various market segments according to application, covering the market size and development potential of each market segment, to help readers find the Flexible PV Cell market in different downstream markets.

Chapter 8 provides a quantitative analysis of the market size and development potential of each region and its main countries and introduces the market development, future development prospects, market space, and capacity of each country in the world.

Chapter 9 introduces the basic situation of the main companies in the market in detail, including product sales revenue, sales volume, price, gross profit margin, market share, product introduction, recent development, etc.

Chapter 10 provides a quantitative analysis of the market size and development potential of each region in the next five years.

Chapter 11 provides a quantitative analysis of the market size and development potential of each market segment (product type and application) in the next five years.

Chapter 12 is the main points and conclusions of the report.