Alternative Energy

Solid nanoparticles and nanostructured monolithics are expected to gain significant market share over the next five years, reaching 7.4% and 2.1%, respectively, by 2017. Nanosensors’ market share is expected to increase slightly by 2017, and hollow nanoparticles should achieve their first commercial sales (other than nanoparticles used in nanocomposites). Applications in energy production, refining, storage, distribution, and transmission collectively accounted for 37% of the market in 2011 vs. 63% for applications in increasing energy efficiency. By 2017, production, refining, storage, distribution, and transmission applications are projected to have a combined market share of 33% vs. 67% for energy efficiency. Industrial processing was the largest user of nanotechnologies in 2011 with 46.1% of the total market.  Refining was the second-largest application segment in 2011 with 17.6% of the market. Other major application segments in 2011 were ethanol production with 16.4% of the market and energy-saving consumer products (mainly detergents) with 11.8%.

Portable computer, tablet, and smartphone batteries make up one of the fastest-growing segments within the electronics market segment. This market study has identified a $2.4 billion global market for 2001. After slowly falling, sales in the market exploded due to the introduction of tablet computers and multifunctional smartphones. The $7.3 billion market in 2012 is projected to grow to $9.5 billion by 2017. The report also discusses the market potential of stationary applications. The overall stationary market was expected to reach nearly $2.8 billion in 2012. The largest increase will be for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and smaller remote stationary applications in view of protecting telecommunications facilities and preventing data lost during power outages. For instance, the global UPS large-and-advanced battery market is expected to grow from $2.3 billion in 2012 to about $2.8 billion by 2017.

China's importance as a wind energy market has entered a new phase, which will profoundly impact the global wind market in years to come. Firstly, China continues to deploy wind capacity at a pace unrivaled on the global stage, with over 14.5 GW installed in 2012, and roughly 18 GW forecast for 2013. Despite the growing pains that come with this pace of growth, China will continue to exist as the dominant global market for wind power for the foreseeable future, and is forecast to far exceed the government's goal of 100 GW of total wind capacity installed by 2015. 

Microgrids are distributed, small-scale versions of the centralized conventional grid systems. This small local nature has its own benefits, such as reliability, flexibility, and enhanced security. Key technology has been introduced to allow widespread adoption of microgrids. Apart from acting as a generation and distribution source like the conventional grid system, microgrids provide a useful platform to integrate renewable resources on the community level and allow for customer participation in the electricity enterprise.

Various power factors have impinged on the advancement and development of micro devices. Power density, cell weight, battery life and form factor all have proven significant and cumbersome when considered for micro applications. Markets for solid state thin-film batteries at $65.9 million in 2012 are anticipated to reach $5.95 billion by 2019. Market growth is a result of the implementation of a connected world of sensors.

Despite the considerable technological innovation expected in energy storage, traditional lead-acid batteries will be the main revenue generator for solar energy storage over the next decade, accounting for more than $950 million in revenues in 2018. They are readily available and low cost, yet have poor lifetimes and are becoming commoditized products. Lead-carbon technology will improve the margins on this type of battery and will be used in solar farms and solar-based microgrid and will generate another $135 million by 2018.

According to a new technical market research report, global revenues from solar cells and modules totaled nearly $38.7 billion in 2011 and should decline to $28.6 billion in 2012. Total revenues are expected to reach $78.1 billion in 2017 after increasing at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.3%.

The ability of energy harvesting devices to deliver increasing amounts of energy has grown faster than anticipated and sensors costs have dropped. The energy harvesting market is well positioned for accelerated growth over the next several years.

Developers installed 85 percent more solar panels in the U.S. in the first quarter than a year earlier, led by strong growth in commercial projects and demand in New Jersey, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Total U.S. installations were 506 megawatts in the quarter and may reach 3,300 megawatts this year, about 11 percent of the 2012 global market, the Washington-based trade group said today in its quarterly market report.

Photovoltaic (PV) modules have gradually turned into a commodity market, as numerous PV products based on various PV technologies have become commercially available. This report provides a detailed analysis of different CIS technology approaches and of the CIS position amongst all PV technologies. The report provides a detailed analysis of different CIS/CIGS technology approaches and of the CIS position amongst all PV technologies. This report analyses numerous technologies regarding the technology and its manufacturing issues in close connection to the possible applications of resulting products. This helps to understand the real market potential of the final product.