Photovoltaic glass is a special glass laminated into a solar cell. It can use solar radiation to generate electricity, and has related current extraction devices and cables. It is composed of low-iron glass, solar cells, film, back glass, and special metal wires. The solar cell is sealed between a piece of low-iron glass and a back glass through a film. It is a novel high-tech glass product for construction. Photovoltaic glass is one of the solar cell modules. Data show that photovoltaic glass accounts for about 6% -7% of the cost of solar cell modules. Among them, photovoltaic glass accounts for 7% of the cost of conventional modules and 6% of the cost of monocrystalline PERC modules.
 
Compared with other glass, photovoltaic glass products have higher performance requirements. For example, the iron content of ordinary glass is generally above 0.2%, and the iron content of photovoltaic glass must be less than 0.015% according to national standards. According to the relevant standards, the photovoltaic transmittance of photovoltaic glass is above 91.5%, while that of ordinary glass of the same thickness is only about 88-89%. At the same time, photovoltaic glass usually made of tempered glass, which has high mechanical strength against external forces and thermal stress such as wind pressure, snow accumulation, hail, and stone throw.
 
At present, China has become the world's leading producer of photovoltaic glass. As of 2018, China's photovoltaic glass production capacity and output accounted for more than 90% of the world's total. At the same time, China has also become the world's major exporter of photovoltaic glass, the main export destinations include the United States, Japan, Southeast Asia and other countries and regions. In 2018, the world's new photovoltaic installed capacity is about 108GW, China's new photovoltaic installed capacity is about 43GW, China's new photovoltaic installed capacity accounts for 40% of the world. Global photovoltaic glass production in 2018 was approximately 512.32 million square meters, among them, China accounts for 91.23% of global photovoltaic glass production, and China's 2018 photovoltaic glass production is about 467.39 million square meters. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate of global photovoltaic glass output will be around 7.9% in the next ten years.
 
Key players in global Photovoltaic Glass market include: Xinyi Solar, FLAT, CSG, Almaden, Anci Hi-Tech, Irico Group, AVIC Sanxin, Saint-Gobain, NSG, AGC, Interfloat, Guardian, Xiuqiang, Topray Solar, Yuhua, Trakya etc.