Bright future for thin film solar

By 2015 thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) systems will be generating 26GW of power worldwide and represent a market worth $20bn (£10bn), according to a report to be published later this month.

The report, Thin Film Photovoltaics Markets: 2008 and Beyond, will be published by US-based analyst NanoMarkets on 21 July and encompass the main photovoltaic technologies – amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride (CdTe), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and copper indium selenide and copper indium gallium selenide (CIS/CIGS) – and the companies involved in photovoltaic development and deployment.

The firm makes the prediction about TFPV because of the rapid growth of all types of photovoltaics but also because of the low cost of manufacturing and flexibility of deployment associated with TFPV – especially in residential applications – compared with currently dominant crystalline silicon photovoltaic technologies.

TFPV will account for more than half the world's production of photovoltaic systems by 2015, NanoMarkets expects.

Recent advances in CdTe photovoltaic cells are likely to continue, the report predicts. By 2015 NanoMarkets expects that this will be the single largest segment of the TFPV market, with revenues of $8.7bn (£4.4bn).

In spite of higher price points and existing manufacturing issues, CIS/CIGS technologies will continue to gain strength because they combine the advantages of TFPV with conversion efficiencies close to conventional crystalline technologies.