Many factors, including rising oil prices, global warming, and rapid industrialization of China and India, have helped propel the global solar industry into hyper-growth mode. In a very short period of time, solar power has become a viable source of energy and is now recognized as a competitive source of electrical power generation.
Worldwide sales of photovoltaics for 2006 were approximately $16 Billion—growing 40% annually since 1997. Sales are projected to reach $36 Billion in 2010 and exceed $50 Billion in 2020 (1). With 2.5 GigaWatt (GW) of additional deployments in 2006, solar power is still less than 1% of the total global electricity generation market of 2,000 GW.
The fundamental drivers for solar photovoltaics are the efficiency and cost of converting sunlight to electricity or heat. According to CLSA’s 2005 report, “Sun Screen II –Investment Opportunities in Solar Power,” well-positioned players are likely to see enormous growth through at least 2008 and likely 2010.
NovoPolymers is a start-up company aspiring to become a well-established supplier with innovativative solutions for the photovoltaic module manufacturers.
(1) CLSA’s 2005 report “Sun Screen II Investment opportunities in Solar Power”