MANY MINDEDThinner solar panels lean on an abalone-inspired healing coating
Germany's Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics (Fraunhofer CSP) and the startup Exxosqel GmbH are jointly developing a thin-glass solar module. It uses front and rear glass panes each just 1 mm thick, with a total glass footprint of 300 by 200 mm, standard encapsulation materials, and quarter-cells cut from bifacial M6 9-busbar PERC cells wired in series, each producing about 1.58 watts. For now it is a showcase demonstrator, not a product.
The enabling trick is a coating. Fraunhofer describes it as a multi-component reactive surface treatment that bonds chemically with hydroxyl groups at damaged spots and microcracks, forming covalent bonds that partially heal cracks and reduce brittleness. The design is inspired by abalone shell and is tuned to keep transparency and a refractive index matched to glass so optical losses stay low. Exxosqel's own lab tests reportedly raised 2 mm glass strength from 79 to 364 MPa, and 1 mm glass from 184 to over 1,300 MPa, and the company estimates the thinner glass could cut module weight by up to 40 percent. Its chemical composition has not been disclosed.
Less glass per panel means less material, energy, and carbon per watt, and lighter modules widen where solar can go, from building-integrated designs to printed front covers. The coating can also be applied to standard modules, so the durability gain need not wait for thin glass to reach market.
The caveats weigh on the timeline. Thinner glass raises field-durability concerns, especially against hail; a cited Indian study found 3.2 mm front glass may fail against large hailstones and recommended at least 4 mm. Full-module hail testing is still pending, and the headline strength figures are Exxosqel's own laboratory results.
Source: pv magazine