In 2008, the global output of photovoltaic cells was 6.4GW, a year-on-year increase of 60%, maintaining a long trend of high growth, while China seems to have become the world's largest photovoltaic cells producer. The output in mainland China to occupy 30 percent of global production. Among the world top 25 PV companies in 2008, China accounted for 8 with total output of 1821MW and Taiwan accounted for 3 with the total output of 723.5MW.
In 2008, the global output of thin-film solar cells was 892MW, a year-on-year growth rate of 120% for two consecutive years, accounting for 15% of total solar cell output. The future development trend of Photovoltaic cells is that the crystalline silicon cell will still in a dominant position in the near future in terms of the continuous improvement process of technology and the continuing decline of cost. And due to the low-cost and conversion efficiency is still have room for improvement of thin film coating battery, thus, the future market share will be have a significant growth. In terms of the market circumstance, the CIGS thin-film battery will be the fastest growth one of thin-film cell in the future.
CIGS thin-film battery has a cost advantage compared with crystalline silicon cells, CIGS cells using low-cost glass as substrate, sputtering technology is the major technology and the wastage of Cu, In, Ga, Al, Zn is very little. For the large-scale industrial production, if able to maintain relatively high efficiency of the battery, the cost of battery (per-watt) is much lower than single crystal silicon and polycrystalline silicon cells. In terms of the scarcity of raw materials, the shortage of Indium will be the major matter for the long term development of the CIGS thin film cells. But, in fact, in a short term, the scarcity of Indium does not constitute an obstacle to the development of CIGS thin-film battery.
Indium is a rare silver-white metal, does not have an independent mineral, widely distributed in the sphalerite. China reserves approximately 13,000 tons, accounting for 2/3 of the world's reserves. In addition to China, the United States, Canada and Japan are the major producers. Presently, the majority of China's indium export to Japan and South Korea, only a small amount consumed in domestic market. In terms of the special nature and rarity of indium, since June 2007 China has started the implementation of the export quota system of Indium, in 2008, China produced a total of 215 tons of indium ingot.
Quelle: Photovoltaics World
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