The Sandbox

Based on data from the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) that solar cell production rose 50 percent in 2007, all signs are pointing to another strong year for the solar cell industry.

According to Jonathan G. Dorn, staff researcher at the EPI, production of photovoltaics (PV) jumped to 3,800 megawatts worldwide last year. At year’s end, preliminary data shows, cumulative global production stood at 12,400 megawatts, enough to power 2.4 million U.S. homes.

In fact, PV production has grown by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy source, the EPI pointed out.

As a reminder, photovoltaics directly convert sunlight into electricity, and include both polysilicon-based solar cell technologies and new thin-film technologies. Thin-film manufacturing involves depositing extremely thin layers of photosensitive materials on glass, metal, or plastics. While the most common material currently used is amorphous silicon, the newest technologies use non-silicon-based materials such as cadmium telluride, the EPI noted.

The polysilicon shortage is, of course, driving the advancement of thin film photovoltaic technologies.

Interestingly, the EPI reports that in 2006, more than half of polysilicon production went into PVs instead of computer chips.

For more data from the Earth Policy Institute, click here.

As evidence of the growth in the solar energy market, Shanghai, China-based ingot and PV cell maker Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. reported today that it has signed three contracts for sale and delivery of wafers totaling $230 million over a seven-year period with a major Korean conglomerate.

--Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor