Demand Source: Energy Utility Companies & Consumers

Demand Source: Energy Utility Companies & Consumers

Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the worldwide market for solar energy has advanced substantially. Solar panel production has been doubling every 2 years. However such supply appears to be outstripping demand. Energy is a homogenous good, and no matter what the source, the chief concern for consumers when deciding energy providers will be cost. Therefore, it’s crucial for utility companies to keep costs low. If they can generate good margins by using lower-cost solar cells, rather than using traditional sources (coal, natural gas), then they will.

However, that still is not the case. Solar power is simply still too expensive, and it will be until economies of scale can be achieved. In the near term, for solar energy to succeed, it is critical that subsidy programs exist to bring price reductions to the PV industry. It’s expected that with improvements to solar cell and production processes, a new era for solar energy could exist beyond 2010. If the cost per kWh of solar power can be competitive with kWh from the existing grid, the industry could wean itself off of its dependence on subsidy programs. We’re not there yet.

Currently the largest markets for solar power are Germany (35% of global solar market), Spain (23%), the United States (10%), and Japan (8%).(2) The success of the German solar market is a result of the ‘feed-in tariff’ system. This means for every kWh produced by a solar power system, the energy company pays a cost-covering fee to the solar power producer. This cost is covered by a surcharge on all German users. The tariff is expected to be reduced pro-rata over the next few years.

Other markets also use this subsidy, inc...

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...ucts. These companies typically also offer process design engineering services as well. Some of the specific equipment needed in a polysilicon plant:

1.) Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Reactors – production chambers that are used to deposit high-purity polysilicon onto wafers.

2.) A gas feed and heat exchanger module – instrumentation and piping for all gases and cooling water entering and leaving the reactors and converters.

3.) Electric arc furnace – purifies silicon from other materials

4.) Silicon tetrachloride converter – recycles gas used in the CVD process

5.) Silicon rod cutting saws and filament fabrication tools

Some of the equipment providers include GT Solar, which produces entire systems for polysilicon producers (primarily CVD reactors and the process engineering involved), as well as VRV Spa, which provides both 36 and 48 rods CVD reactors.