CEA: HJT bifacial modules generate higher price premiums

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
A Silfab Solar project in Oregon.
Bifacial modules gain high price premiums from generation benefits, according to the CEA report. Image: Silfab Solar.

Generation benefits from bifacial modules have gained high price premiums compared with their monofacial counterparts, according to a report from the Clean Energy Associates (CEA).

The report – The PV Supply, Technology, and Policy Report (STPR) – says that 210mm bifacial heterojunction (HJT) modules command the highest price premiums due to their higher energy generation.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

210mm HJT panels are followed by 182mm bifacial TOPCon back contact (TBC) and heterojunction modules, while the industry’s leading technology, tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) comes fourth with 210mm bifacial modules.

Chart showing how bifacial PV modules gain higher price premiums
Chart: CEA

However, the difference between a 210mm bifacial TOPCon module and a 210mm monofacial HJT module is minimal, as shown in the chart above.

The contrast between bifacial and monofacial is that generation produces higher price premiums for the former, while capex accounts for the majority of price premiums for the latter.

Moreover, in terms of encapsulant, although ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) has long been the market choice for encapsulant on a PV module, according to the CEA, polyolefin (POE) based encapsulant is gaining traction due to its better reliability and higher corrosion resistance. Most n-type modules are opting for that choice due to additional n-type cell sensitivities to foreign material ingress.

On the other hand, its disadvantages are its cost and is difficult to control its production process.

US supply of solar cells and modules more than sufficient

Aside from technological aspects, the CEA report also looks at the state of solar cells and module imports to the US.

Solar PV products availability remains sufficient in the US to support the development of projects with both module and solar cells imports outweighing quarterly deployment figures in the first three quarters of 2024, as show in the chart below.

The challenge for the solar industry in the US lies with the procurement of transformers, due to restrictions on utilities to procure non-Chinese equipment.

According to the CEA, most foreign firms are conservative in their expansions, with transformers being “labor-intensive and highly customized per order”.

“Transformer suppliers have now announced significant expansions for new manufacturing in the US, but it will take several years for new manufacturing to come online to support demand growth,” said the report.

Another possible bottleneck for the solar industry would be the lack of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) jobs to cover the increase in solar PV project construction.

17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

February 18, 2025
Sunnova said the job cuts are part of “an optimisation of its business" and the cuts will save around US$35 million.
February 18, 2025
Chinese solar manufacturer LONGi has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Jinko Solar.
February 17, 2025
Round-up of community solar news with new legislations progressing in the US states of Missouri and Iowa, while New Mexico started construction on the first project in the state.
February 17, 2025
Lee Zeldin said the EPA should "reassume responsibility" for funds issued under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
February 14, 2025
Environmental Law & Policy Center argued that PJM’s scoring system would favour specific resource classes, such as combined cycle gas.
February 13, 2025
A report from CEA says that the impact of the new Republican administration on the provisions under the IRA remains “uncertain”.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
February 19, 2025
Tokyo, Japan
Solar Media Events
March 11, 2025
Frankfurt, Germany
Solar Media Events
March 18, 2025
Sydney, Australia