Solar Encapsulant Film Firm Sinopont Bags Round-D Financing

Sinopont, a Chinese solar encapsulant film manufacturer, announced on November 16 that it has completed round-D financing worth several hundred million yuan. The funds came from institutions such as State Power Investment Corporation, CICC Capital, China Structural Reform Fund, Source Code Capital, GGV Capital and others.

Sinopont, which was established in July 2006, was one of China’s earliest enterprises to realize mass production of polyolefin elastomer (POE) film. In 2010, it established strategic cooperation with 3M, an American manufacturer and distributor of industrial products and solutions.

The company is committed to the R&D, production and sales of packaging film for photovoltaic modules. Its products are mainly POE photovoltaic film, including EPE, white film, EVA and other series, serving customers both within China and abroad. The company currently manages two production bases in China, and it is actively preparing for the construction of an overseas production base and a third domestic base.

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Photovoltaic encapsulant film is used as the core auxiliary material to cover the upper and lower sides of battery cells. It is laminated with auxiliary materials such as photovoltaic glass and back sheet to form photovoltaic modules in a vacuum environment. Its main function is to protect the cells and effectively prolong the service life of the module. Compared with traditional EVA film, emerging types of POE film feature low water vapor transmittance, high volume resistivity and high weather resistance, which can improve the safety and long-term aging resistance of photovoltaic modules in high temperatures and high humidity environments, enabling the modules to be used more efficiently for a long time.

Wu Fan, Managing Director of Source Code Capital, said, “The photovoltaic industry is undergoing tremendous changes. N-type batteries represented by TopCon ushered in the first year of industrialization and began to enter the stage of explosive growth in mass production, which also put forward higher requirements for photovoltaic packaging films. Among them, POE films can better adapt to new batteries such as TopCon and ensure long-term use of components because of its low water vapor transmittance and better durability, thus having a broad market space.”