The PV Industry 2009: In Search of Stability and Sustainability
REW - As an industry, the photovoltaic sector has witnessed its share of ups and downs but it has nonetheless recorded 30 years of growth. How is the sector dealing with falling revenues in 2009?
by Paula Mints
, Navigant Consulting (speaker at Global Demand Conference)
After four years of boom times in the solar industry, a significant softening of demand along with lower module prices has led to anxious times -- fewer sales, at lower selling prices and so lower revenues and, significantly, lower profits.
Even without the expected decrease in demand in 2009, technology revenues would be lower than the US $20.4 billion (€14 billion) of 2008 as cell and module prices are around 40% below 2008 levels. Figure 1 (shown below) provides technology revenues from the manufacturer to the first point of sale in the market from 2003 through 2013. For 2009 and 2010, an estimate of revenues for the recession forecast has been provided. With technology prices at the current level, even growth in sales volume, which is highly unlikely, would result in lower revenues in 2009.
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