Solarbuzz Reports Soaring PV Demand Drives Record Levels of Manufacturing Equipment Spending

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http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNACO1188.htm

Quarterly manufacturing capacity added during Q3'10 broke through the GW barrier for the first time driving PV equipment spending to a new quarterly high, according to the Solarbuzz® PV Equipment Quarterly, a 200-slide report on PV equipment trends with accompanying cell manufacturer database released today.

Manufacturing equipment spending posted record returns, with c-Si ingot-to-module and thin-film panel spending in excess of $2.9B. Specifically, the dominant c-Si process tool types (etching, diffusion, passivation deposition and printing) each delivered quarterly served addressable market sizes over $120M. Strong c-Si cell and thin-film panel expansion will continue through Q4'10 with a further 1.3 GW of quarterly ramped capacity projected to come online.

"Chinese and Taiwanese c-Si cell manufacturers are expanding at an unprecedented rate, stimulated by record levels of downstream demand through 2010," noted Finlay Colville, Senior Analyst at Solarbuzz. "This wave of capacity expansion is driving equipment spending levels to record quarterly highs, reflected by strong revenues reported by leading process tool suppliers to the PV industry during 1H'10."

"While c-Si cell capacity expansions in China and Taiwan continue to benefit qualified c-Si process tool suppliers based in Europe and North America, thin-film capital equipment spending remains increasingly fragmented by thin-film absorber type, substrate, supply-chain and manufacturing region," Colville added.

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