All About Solar | Green Energy News

May 21, 2006 – Vol.11 No.9

ALL ABOUT SOLAR.

This week’s news...

No doubt that events in the region stretching from the Middle East all the way through the Philippines and Indonesia and up to the northern border of China - the Indian-Ocean-Asia-Pacific region - will shape the history of this century.

High populations with high unemployment will attempt to be balanced against high economic growth and high demand for resources at a time when some resources, such as oil and natural gas, are on the wane.

Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Western nations would do well to make sure renewable energy technologies pour into the region. Energy creates economic opportunities which often keep people from getting mischievous. Renewable energy resources will help keep pollution and green house gas emissions in the area from exploding. And, renewable energies will be working when the oil and natural gas wells of the Middle East begin to run dry.

Thankfully there’s continued evidence that renewables, particularly solar energy, is growing rapidly in the region.

Bloomberg News reports that BP Solar is expecting the market for solar products in the Asian region to grow by 50 percent per year by 2016, up from 30 percent or so today.

By 2020 China’s market for solar energy could grow to 1000 megawatts per year up from 20 megawatts per year today - a 50 fold increase.

And that’s just China.

South Korea is aiming for a similar rate of growth in solar energy.

BP is on track to expand its global annual solar manufacturing capacity to 200 megawatts by the end of 2006.

Solar Plaza, a global marketplace for photovoltaic solar products and information, as well as an organizer of international tours of solar industries, reports that the solar industry in China is growing beyond expectations.

--- Yingli Solar Company, a maker of wafers, cells and modules plans to have 600 megawatts annual solar production capacity in 2-3 years up from 100 megawatts by the end of 2006.

--- LDK Solar High Tech Co, a maker of multi crystalline solar wafers, is targeting a production capacity of 200 megawatts per year by early 2007, then up to a 1000 megawatt production capacity by 2010.

--- Nanjing CEEG PV-Tech started their 32 megawatt per year solar cell production line in June 2005. By March of this year the company had reached a capacity of 100 megawatts and is planning expansion to 600 megawatts by 2008.

--- Trina Solar, which produces silicon ingots, wafers, solar cells and modules, with a capacity of 50 megawatts per year, is planning an expansion of production capacity of all these products to 300 megawatts per per year by 2008.

Solar Plaza has a full report of its tour of Chinese solar plants at http://www.solarplaza.com/

Given the current shortfall of polysilicon to make silicon solar cells how will the new production capacity, in China and elsewhere, be supported?

An increase in polysilicon production capacity of course.

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) of Oslo, Norway, the world’s largest producer of solar grade polysilicon and solar wafers, has announced plans to double its production of polysilicon by building a third production plant. The new plant will be built in Mose Lake, Washington for an estimated $600 million. The new plant should be operational by the third quarter of 2008.

To help alleviate polysilicon shortages in the shorter term REC plans to increase its production by 10 percent by the end of 2006. Visit REC Group at http://www.recgroup.com/