Thin-film and emerging technologies in photovoltaics (PV) offer advantages for lightweight, flexible power over the rigid silicon panels that dominate the present market. One important advantage is high specific power (the power-to-weight ratio). Here we consider niche market size, price points and value propositions that can provide a path for new PV market entrants. Examining the cost–production experience curves of Si, CdTe and CIGS PV suggests that a minimum market size of US$0.2–1 billion is required to incubate a new market entrant. Several markets requiring high specific power meet this threshold. We assess the critical role of the substrate, packaging and interconnects and provide a quantitative assessment of pathways to maximize specific power. With all requisite components included, along with requirements for safety and reliability, we estimate a lower bound for a durable lightweight module at about 300–500 g m⁻². Pairing this bound with a 15%-efficiency thin-film or 35%-efficiency III–V module would yield specific powers up to 500 W kg⁻¹ or 1,167 W kg⁻¹, respectively.

光电薄膜（PV）的薄膜技术和新兴技术相对于主导当前市场的刚性硅电池板，具有轻巧，灵活的功率优势。一个重要的优势是高比功率（功率重量比）。在这里，我们考虑利基市场的规模，价格点和价值主张，它们可以为新的光伏市场进入者提供一条道路。研究Si，CdTe和CIGS PV的成本-生产经验曲线表明，孵化一个新的市场参与者至少需要0.2-1亿美元的市场规模。几个需要高比功率的市场达到了这个门槛。我们评估了基板，封装和互连的关键作用，并对路径进行了定量评估，以最大限度地提高比功率。包括所有必需的组件，以及对安全性和可靠性的要求，⁻²。将其与效率为15％的薄膜或效率为35％的III–V模块配对，将分别产生高达500 W kg ^-1或1,167 W kg ^-1的比功率。