CIGS to emerge as major technology by 2020

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Thin - Film Photovoltaic (PV) Cells Market Analysis to 2020 - CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide) to Emerge as the Major Technology by 2020" report to its offering.

Thin - Film Photovoltaic (PV) Cells Market Analysis to 2020- CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide) to Emerge as the Major Technology by 2020 provides key information and analysis on the market opportunities in the Global thin film Solar PV industry.

The report covers the key market drivers, restrains and growth forecast for major thin film technologies Amorphous silicon (a-Si), Cadium Telluride (Cdte), and Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS). The report entails comprehensive analysis of thin-film module production, production capacity, key countries and key industry players. The key study focuses on the global thin film PV industry market outlook along with comparative analysis of different technologies.

The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in house analysis by a team of industry experts.

Evolving thin film industry growth trajectory to gain pace
Thin-film PV technology witnessed minimal research activities till the early 1980s. Post this period, it witnessed a constant advancement, in terms of manufacturing technology and materials used. The pursuit of cost-effective electricity generating technology lured major corporations and investors towards the thin film PV industry.

The industry saw more than 100 companies entering the market between 2001 and 2009. Thin film PV technology has seen a major development leap from only being associated with the little strip of PV cells used in power calculators to sophisticated Building Integrated PV or solar charges for mobile devices.

From a mere 14 MW production in 2001 the market has grown to reach 2,141 MW in 2009, at a CAGR of 58 percent. The market outlook for the coming decade appears promising as the major thin film producing countries - Japan, China, and the US - are announcing aggressive support for renewable energy expansion through incentives and regulations.

In retrospect, the thin film module production is projected to grow at the rate of 24 percent between 2009 and 2020, to reach 22,214 MW production by 2020.

Thin film technology gaining increasing share in solar PV industry
Over period of time, the thin film technology has been successful in grabbing a larger share of the PV market. Thin film production market share in the global solar PV market grew from a mere 2.8 percent in 2001 to 25 percent in 2009, thus dictating a growing share in the future.

Thin film solar PV, as per GBI Research's estimation, is set to increase its share to ~38 percent by 2020. Expectations are that, in the long-term, thin film solar PV technology would surpass the dominating conventional solar PV technology, thus enabling the long sought-after grid parity objective.