LONDON — The global terrestrial photovoltaic market will be worth $20.2 billion this year, and grow to $35.2 billion by 2012 at a compound annual average growth rate of 23 percent, according to a report form market research group Strategy Analytics.
The rapid growth will come from growing worldwide demand for renewable energy, and represents major opportunities for the compound semiconductors sector, according to Asif Anwar, Director of the GaAs service at Strategy Analytics.
"Crystalline silicon-based solar technology still has a dominating market share of around 89 percent in 2008. However, moving forward, its share will be eroded as a result of competing technologies based on thin film and compound semiconductors," said Anwar.
"Thin film solar cells cost less and do not consume large amounts of crystalline silicon. Traditional crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturers, such as Q-Cells and Sharp, are involving in this new area."
Anwar added III-V based concentrated photovoltaic technology offers advantages of high cell conversion and lower material usage, and suggested these advantages will translate to CAAGR of 133 percent through 2012, accounting for 10 percent of the total market share.
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