Corning Inc. recently announced it has received its first commercial order for photovoltaic (PV) glass substrates. This milestone order follows three years of development work and extensive customer engagement, resulting in an engineered glass that enables higher efficiency and lighter weight thin-film photovoltaic modules. The PV glass substrates will ship immediately.

“We understand the current market challenges for photovoltaics and the focus on delivering cost-effective solar energy solutions,” said Gary Calabrese, Ph.D., senior vice president of New Business Development. “Clearly, energy conversion efficiency is integral to addressing these challenges. Therefore, we are very excited about this initial deployment of Corning’s PV glass substrates and their ability to deliver on such an important need in the advancement of thin-film PV solutions. The substantial efficiency improvement of our glass technology has been demonstrated in lab and customer trials. Now, this order validates the need for engineered glass to drive higher conversion efficiency and can provide module makers with a competitive advantage.”

Corning’s PV glass substrates reportedly can increase current thin-film module efficiency by 20-30%. The glass has high transmission, allowing more sunlight into the semiconductor layer. Corning’s substrates are also high-temperature tolerant. Because the glass can withstand higher temperature deposition, more uniform semiconductor films may be applied, which increases overall conversion efficiency.

“Corning is committed to offering innovative glass substrates that enable increased solar conversion efficiency,” said John Duke, business director of Corning Photovoltaic Glass Technologies. “This is just the beginning.”

For more information, visit www.corning.com.