Borosil has created a line that can produce 2mm fully-tempered solar glass, which would come out at 1.6GW capacity.
A digital thickness reading of 2.07mm glass for Borosil’s 2mm solar glass
Indian manufacturer Borosil Glass Works has completed acceptance tests for a major line of 2mm fully-tempered glass, which a company executive claims to be the first such glass produced at this thickness in the world.
The current world standard for solar tempered glass is 3.2mm, but Borosil has created a line that can produce significantly thinner glass, which would come out at 1.6GW capacity.
Pradeep Kheruka, vice chairman of Borosil, said: “We are the first people to have actually taken the risk of investing in a line that claimed they could do it and our gamble paid off.”
The firm performed an acceptance test, attended by Borosil and the line supplier, running the line for an eight-hour period non-stop without any problems. The next step is to send the glass out to be certified with reputed international bodies. Kheruka said he had no doubt that the product would be certified.
“The thinner glass should create higher efficiencies when used in a solar module, because there is less glass to absorb solar irradiance before reaching the cell,” added Kheruka. “Until now, any 2mm glass used in modules has been 'heat-strengthened' rather than fully-tempered, which means it is significantly weaker,” he claimed.
Borosil’s 2mm glass is the same price as the 3.2mm glass “with a small premium”, since drawing the glass out at 2mm thickness results in lower production.
Noting several windows of opportunity opened up with 2mm+2mm glass modules, Kheruka cited the new trend in PV...
