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Thin Film Solar Technology Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts Worldwide, 2011 to 2017
Wintergreen Research, Inc, Sep 2011, Pages: 496
Thin film solar energy units are evolving vacuum based solid state technology. The worldwide demand for energy is steadily increasing, doubling every 15 years. The major effort is to sustain growth in the electricity supply without causing irreversible harm to the environment. Solar energy has rapidly grown as a clean, renewable alternative to limited fossil fuels. Recognition of the need to reduce reliance on coal and fossil fuels is driving interest in solar energy.
The need to reduce reliance on coal and fossil fuels is intuitive. The science agrees -- climate change is a reality. Citizens want to do something about climate change. Countries wish to not have dependence on foreign suppliers.
Thin film solar panel and systems market segments include CadTel. CadTel is attracting more attention than CIGS thin film. Thin film silicon solar cells use significantly less silicon, about 1/100th the thickness of the normal silicon layer. The thin film silicon solar cells production process is far shorter than that for crystalline silicon solar cells. Therefore thin film silicon solar cells are expected to greatly expand the potential of solar energy.
Those price declines are healthy for the overall industry. Solar markets need price parity with petroleum based energy sources. The process of separating the strong players from weaker ones is ongoing. U.S. solar wafer maker Evergreen Solar did not make the grade. Those countries that invest in the technology are going to be the ones that achieve significant market advantage.
Growth of solar markets will depend on continued investment in energy infrastructure by governments. When you think about it, there is no better investment government can make than in achieving development of low cost, reliable solar energy. This availability of low cost energy is what makes an economy hum. Some governments are sure to recognize these issues and make the investment, others will not.
The “Thin Film Solar Panel and System Market Shares and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2011-2017” has 496 pages, 189 tables and figures. According to Susan Eustis, lead author of the study, “grid parity has been reached by thin film solar energy products for many areas of the world.” When thin film solar systems are looked at over the 25 year useful life of the systems they provide very attractive payback.
Markets at $2.9 billion in 2010 are set to grow to $44 billion by 2017, with the total solar energy market reaching $ 1 trillion sometime in the middle of 2021.
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