Solar cell market

The solar photovoltaic market has been an area of high growth for the past nine years culminating in a 27% increase in 2005 when the world solar cell market was estimated to be worth around five billion dollars. The world s major solar cell producers include BP Solar, Deutsche Cell/SolarWorld, Isofoton, Kyocera, Mitsubishi Electric, Q-Cell, RWE Short, Sanyo, Sharp, Shell Solar and Suntech Power. It is significant that the world s major oil companies are heavily involved in solar power. In a recent statement Norm Taffe, the Executive Vice-President of the Consumer and Computation Division of Suntech Power s Cypress Semiconductor parent company, predicted that solar power could be competitive with mainstream electricity generation in five years time. 

Typically made using a silicon wafer and the dominant technology in the commercial production of solar cells, accounting for more than 86% of the solar cell market. 

Companies in the United States, Japan, and Europe are actively working to commercialize CdTe PV technology. CdTe PV modules are available in limited quantities and sizes from one Japanese manufacturer, and two U.S. companies (Golden Photon in Colorado and Solar Cells Inc. in Ohio) have announced their intention to market CdTe PV products in the near future. 

Perhaps the most familiar example in the specialty items category is the consumer electronics market which consists primarily of solar-powered calculators and watches. Although volumes are large in terms of units sold, the revenues are relatively small. Further, the competition is fierce for any photovoltaics manufacturer who seeks to sell commodity solar cells to the consumer goods producer. 

In addition, other utiUties are installing estabUshed solar cells in a growing number of tests that may lead to a mass market. The studies may indicate the extent to which solar cells can be used to avoid installation costs for new distribution lines between conventional power plants and remote customers buildings. Also, among other objectives, PV cells may provide an economical means of helping to supply demand during peak summer periods in northern climates. 

While silicon is not the ideal solar cell material, it currently dominates the solar PV market due to its prevalence in the microelectronics industry. Crystalline silicon (c-Si) is an inorganic semiconductor, in which the valence-band maximum and conduction-band minimum are not directly aligned in Uspace, making c-Si an indirect bandgap material. The indirect nature of the bandgap in c-Si means that a considerable change in momentum is required for the promotion of an electron from... 

On the scale of most other commercial metals, the production of elemental tellurium is relatively limited—approximately j million pounds annually. Commercial tellurium is marketed at a purity of about 99.7%, although much purer forms are obtainable—up to 99.999%. The application of tellurium and tellurium compounds as catalysts is expanding. Small quantities are used in various electronic components, including solar cells, infrared detectors, emitters, and thermoelectric generators. Tellurium also is sometimes used as a dopant for semiconductor... 

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