DuPont expects to invest about $100 million to continue developing products and technologies for solar cells and panels, the company said at an investors conference in New York.

DuPont says it supplies eight of nine key materials used in solar panels, including conductive pastes and high-performance films.

"The world needs new sources of clean energy now," said John Ranieri, vice president and general manager of DuPont Bio-Based Materials. "Alternative energy is already an important market segment across several of our commerical product offerings, and we have strong pipelines that will further drive growth into alternative energy markets."

The company also is involved with biofuels, fuel cells and crop genetics in the alternative energy arena.