Alternative Energy

The global market for Reinforced Plastics is forecast to reach 7.9 million tons by the year 2017, bolstered by renewed demand from major end-use sectors and robust demand from European and Asia Pacific markets. Further, rapidly evolving renewable energy markets such as wind energy are emerging as the most promising growth areas for Reinforced Plastics.

The coolest new nanomaterial of the 21^st century could boost the efficiency of the next generation of solar panels, a team of Michigan Technological University materials scientists has discovered. Graphene, a two-dimensional honeycomb of carbon atoms, is a rising star in the materials community for its radical properties. One of those properties is electrical conductivity, which could make it a key ingredient in the next generation of photovoltaic cell.

Despite cuts in subsidy levels, Germany will install a record 8 gigawatts of photovoltaics in 2012, according to Germany's trade chamber, the DIHK. That's up slightly from the 7.5 gigawatts installed in 2011. The timing of subsidy cuts was postponed amidst recent employment-oriented protests in Germany. Subsidy cuts will now begin in April and May. Not every analyst agrees with the DIHK projection, urging a wait-and-see approach concerning the FIT regime.

The introduction of DC power to industries that traditionally rely on ac power is expected to cause a fundamental shift in how new and existing buildings are designed and operated. It will require manufacturers to design new products, adopt new standards and completely re-design their approach to power delivery systems. It must also be determined where a dc power system will completely replace the existing ac architecture and where the deployment of dc power delivery systems as part of an ac-dc hybrid architecture would be appropriate. Despite the challenges, the addition of dc power delivery systems offers the potential for improvements in energy efficiency, reliability, flexibility, power quality as well as lower cost of operation as compared to traditional power systems.

Power electronics for electricity conversion is experiencing important growth. Semiconductor and power packaging developments, supply chain evolutions together with market forecasts are analyzed by Yole Développement in this report. Because of continued strong interest in green energy, power electronics for electricity conversion is experiencing important growth. Starting with a total inverter market size of almost $44 billion in 2012, analysts estimate that it should reach more than $55 billion, with a high CAGR for applications such as EV/HEVs and renewable energies.

Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a lightweight, flexible organic solar film that converts light to electricity, announced that Konarka’s next generation organic solar cells are the world’s first organic photovoltaic (OPV) to be certified in compliance with IEC 61646. The certification work was done by TÜV Rheinland, an international test center based in Cologne, Germany. TÜV Rheinland’s Solar Energy Assessment Center performed the testing. These recent advances are based upon Konarka’s inverted cell architecture, the company’s proprietary intellectual property protected under issued patents.

Electric energy storage systems are crucial for the further development and transformation of a range of sectors including renewable energy, automotive, grid stabilization, smart grid, back-up power and portable devices. Big scale, reliable and durable electric energy storage technologies will enhance the usage and commercial attractiveness of intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. New research finds that electric energy storage systems are inscribed in the development strategies of intermittent renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV) developers, grid operators and utility companies.

The global market for renewable-energy devices and advanced materials was valued at nearly $22.3 billion for 2011. That number is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% between 2011 and 2016, reaching nearly $31.8 billion in 2016.

Consumption in the global market for polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) is forecast to reach 444,532 metric tons by the year 2017,spurred by immense demand from burgeoning photovoltaic industry, the largest end-user market. The polysilicon industry currently is in a state of oversupply mainly due to the disproportionate demand-supply cyclical trend worldwide. Uncontrolled spree of massive capacity expansions across US, Europe and China, coupled with recession and highly volatile price fluctuations led to a state of glut with huge supply surplus and weak demand. Solar industry is primed to outpace the traditional semiconductor industry as the single largest polysilicon consumer, mainly for use in solar panels.

The global market for solar panels is forecast to reach US$71.8 billion by the year 2017, primarily driven by robust demand for solar energy in the United States and developing markets such as China and India. The market will also be driven by Government policies, especially feed-in-tariffs and investment subsidies, which are expected to play a major role in determining the future demand for solar panels.