| Thin Film and
Organic PV Market To Reach $2.3 Billion in 2011, Report Says
According to a newly released report from NanoMarkets, an industry
analyst firm, the market for thin film and organic photovoltaics (PV)
will be worth over $2.3 billion in the year 2011. Information about the
report titled, "Thin Film and Organic PV: New Applications for Solar
Energy" is available on the firm's
Web site. NanoMarkets' new report says that advances in materials and production modalities are enabling new products including those that integrate PV with building materials and others that provide novel sources of power for cell phones and notebook computers. Companies that use amorphous silicon, non-silicon inorganics or organic polymers/small molecules are also benefiting from the shortage of crystalline silicon used in conventional PV, and from the availability of government subsidies as well as the ability of PV users to sell excess power to utilities. The report examines key product sectors that will create revenue opportunities over the next several years. Integrated building and construction products such as PV-enabled roofing and window materials are projected to be the largest market opportunity measuring $800 million ($US) in 2011, with large project and consumer electronic products the second and third largest market opportunities. On the materials front, amorphous silicon, the best established of the various thin-film PV materials, will represent an $800 million ($US) opportunity followed by organic and hybrid organic/inorganic materials and then CIS/CIGS. Thin film/organic PV is also generating buzz in the industry and several companies have received large VC rounds. Major multinationals are also supporting this technology as Honda has announced it will soon start full-scale production of thin-film PV and Shell has just sold off its conventional PV business to focus on thin film. On the other hand, NanoMarkets points out that thin film and organic PV is also a technology space that has received its fair share of hype and controversy with competing claims by different manufacturers on where and how it can be applied, and disputes over conversion efficiencies and costs per watt. NanoMarkets believes that the technology will, however, offer a major long-term opportunity to those who can look beyond short-term supply constraints and focus on the unique advantages of thin-film/organic PV that can be exploited. These advantages include weight, flexibility and low-cost production methods. The new NanoMarkets report also examines rival research programs and materials for thin-film PV, including amorphous silicon, CIS/CIGS, CdTe, GaAs, small molecules, polymers, organic dyes and so-called third-generation PV. It also compares the various marketing and production strategies now being employed to create new PV products for the mobile computer and communications, building materials, outdoor power, emergency power and other sectors. The report provides detailed forecasts of PV shipments broken out by production technology, application/product type and material. It also discusses how this new type of photovoltaics will impact traditional photovoltaics markets. Companies covered in this report include DayStar Technologies, First Solar, Global Photonic Energy, HelioVolt, Honda, Iowa Thin Film, Konarka, Miasole, Nanosolar, Sanyo, Shell Solar and Uni-Solar.
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