In recent years, the large-scale construction of global UHV transmission projects and new energy projects (offshore wind power, photovoltaic power stations) has put forward higher requirements for the performance of glass insulators, promoting the industry from "general-purpose" to "special-purpose" technological upgrading and forming a clear development trend.​

To meet the needs of UHV transmission lines (voltage level of 1000kV and above), glass insulators first made breakthroughs in structural design. The single-piece insulation strength of traditional disc-shaped glass insulators is limited, and UHV lines need to be connected in series with dozens of pieces, which not only increases the tower load but also easily leads to local breakdown due to uneven electric field distribution between pieces. For this reason, the industry has developed special UHV glass insulators with "large diameter and thin shed" structure — the shed diameter is expanded from the traditional 250mm to 320mm, increasing the creepage distance (the distance current crawls along the surface) to more than 1200mm, effectively improving the insulation strength; at the same time, the thin shed design (thickness reduced by 30%) reduces the weight of a single piece, reducing the tower load pressure on the premise of ensuring insulation performance. In addition, the UHV glass insulators also optimize the fitting connection structure and adopt the "double-string parallel" design, which increases the mechanical load to more than 550kN and can resist the greater conductor tension and wind impact of UHV lines.​

Glass insulators adapted to offshore wind power focus on "anti-corrosion and anti-salt spray" upgrading. The offshore environment has high salt spray and high humidity, and the metal accessories (such as iron caps and steel feet) of traditional glass insulators are easily corroded, leading to structural failure. The new special glass insulators for offshore wind power adopt the combination of "ceramic coating + stainless steel fittings" — the surface of metal accessories is sprayed with a 50μm thick aluminum oxide ceramic coating, which can isolate salt spray erosion. At the same time, the corrosion resistance of stainless steel fittings (316L material) is 10 times higher than that of traditional carbon steel; the glass body is added with titanium dioxide nanoparticles to form a "self-cleaning" surface, reducing the adhesion of marine organisms and salt scale accumulation, and lowering the operation and maintenance frequency. Tests show that after these insulators operate in the offshore environment for 5 years, the corrosion rate of metal accessories is less than 0.01mm/year, and the insulation performance remains stable.​

For the low-voltage DC transmission scenario of photovoltaic power stations, glass insulators are developing towards "miniaturization and high insulation". Equipment such as inverters and combiner boxes in photovoltaic power stations require low-voltage insulators (voltage level below 10kV) to achieve insulation isolation. Traditional glass insulators are large in size and not suitable for the compact space inside the equipment. The new special glass insulators for photovoltaics adopt a "pillar structure", with the height shortened from the traditional 150mm to 80mm and the diameter reduced to 50mm, which can be directly embedded into the equipment; at the same time, by adjusting the glass formula (increasing boron oxide content), the volume resistivity is increased to more than 10¹⁶Ω·cm, ensuring zero leakage current in the low-voltage DC environment and avoiding equipment failure.​

These technological upgrades not only expand the application boundary of glass insulators but also promote the industry to move towards higher value-added fields, providing key equipment support for the construction of the new power system.