Global EVA Leader
Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. is expanding its business into the global high value-added ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) market by commercially producing using the tubular reactor polymerization process for the first time in the world, and investing in facilities, including the expansion of the second EVA plant. As the company completed the second EVA plant with an annual production capacity of 240,000 tons in Feb. last year, Hanwha Total has established EVA production facilities with an annual production capacity of 320,000 tons, the largest figure for a single company in Korea. The company expects to turn over 1.5 trillion won (US$1.28 billion) in solar EVA products alone in the next five years.
Hanwha Total said on Dec. 29 that it gained the “World Class Products” certification on its EVA product for solar panels. The World Class Products program is the result of a policy where Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy selects products that have over 5 percent global market share, rank within the Top 5 in their market, and have an international market worth over US$50 million (58.43 billion won) with exports of US$5 million (5.84 billion won) annually. The company achieved a 35 percent share in the global solar encapsulment EVA market amounting to 350,000 tons, being ranked first.
Encapsulment is a thin film that stops moisture from permeating into a cell and prevents it from being broken with external shocks as well as insulation effects. Accordingly, it is a key material that determines the efficiency and long-term durability of solar cell modules.
An EVA is a typical product of synthetic resin, which is being used in the soles of sneakers and in solar cells. In particular, it is divided into two categories – general-purpose and high value added products – according to the content of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM). Encapsulant EVA for the encapsulment of solar cells is a high-value-added product with over 28 percent of the VAM content.
For general-purpose EVA products, Hanwha Total thinks that it cannot but lose competition with Chinese companies, which aggressively invest in facilities, in the future. Therefore, the company is expanding its business into the high-value-added EVA market, which can create added value through a technological gap, instead.
In order to do so, Hanwha Total completed the second EVA plant with a tubular reactor polymerization process last year, succeeding in commercially producing EVA products for solar cells through the tubular reactor polymerization process for the first time in the global industry. The company also succeeded in commercial production of solar EVA sheets with high transparency, which increases the efficiency of solar power, improves traits such as ultra-high purity and low contractibility, and has a low defective rate. Compared with the autoclave process, moreover, it has secured 30 to 40 percent higher productivity when producing EVA products for solar cells.