Photovoltaic Cell and Module Manufacturing Equipment: 2008 Market Size and 2009 Forecast

VLSI Research Inc announces the PV cell and module manufacturing equipment market size for 2008.

The PV cell and module manufacturing equipment market for all cell technologies reached a value of $4.4 billion in 2008. Growth in the market is expected to slow to 8 percent in 2009 as demand for cells starts to cool and smaller manufacturers struggle to secure the financing necessary to fund the next round of expansion.

However, the outlook for equipment suppliers this year varies by cell technology. Providers of equipment for thin film cell technologies will experience strong growth in revenues in 2009 due to large order backlogs and long customer acceptance times. In contrast, suppliers of equipment for silicon wafer cell manufacturing are expected to see a decline from 2008 levels as customers with excess capacity choose to fully ramp existing facilities before committing to new equipment. Overall, this results in growth of 8 percent for the year.

VLSI Research Europe Managing Director, John West, remarked that the underlying fundamentals of this market are strong and that this is a temporary situation exacerbated by the global economic crisis. “2009 will be a period of consolidation for the market,” he explained, as weaker companies are likely to be squeezed out over the coming year.

www.vlsiresearch.com