PV materials market to hit$27.2 billion by 2018

PV materials market to hit$27.2 billion by 2018

12. JUNE2013 | GLOBAL PV MARKETS, INDUSTRY& SUPPLIERS, MARKETS &TRENDS | BY: WENJING FENG

Due to the improved supply-demand balance,the global photovoltaic (PV) materials market will climb 52% in 2018, accordingto a report by Lux Research. Materials differentiation and innovations willbecome the major contributors to the sustainable growth of global demand.

The materials market is expected to growfrom $17.8 billion to $27.2 billion in 2018.

Yingli

Just days after releasing its forecast onthe return of balanace between supply and demand in theglobal PV market, the Boston-based analysts Lux Research on Tuesdayreleased its latest report on the future of the PV materials market,forecasting a rebound in 2018.

In comparison with 2012, the materialsmarket will grow from $17.8 billion to $27.2 billion in the next five years,witih metals, including polysilicon and metallic absorber materials,contributing some $12.8 billion of that sum. Polysilicon alone will account fora $6 billion market share due to the global demand of silicon modules.

"Differentiated materials that enablehigh cell or module efficiencies or longer lifetime will be able to earn apremium and cash in on the growing demand," said Fatima Toor, Lux Researchanalyst.

Toor added that the push towards improvedquality would lead to materials innovations that would drive down the price perwatt as well as the price per kilowatt hour.

In the next few years, materials forsilicon module production will boom, reaching $23.8 billion in 2018. Materialssuch as backsheets, non-EVA encapsulants, metallization pastes andantireflection coatings will offer significant opportunities to materialinnovations.

As the solar industry tends to prioritizelow price per kilowatt hour on top of low price per hour, effective planningand implementation for module quality improvement is also creatingopportunities for materials developers.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/pv-materials-market-to-hit-272-billion-by-2018_100011698/#ixzz2W5GvPYJB