 A comprehensive line of low cost bio-based films and resins to replace higher cost solar cell components: |
Market Opportunity
Many factors, including rising oil prices, global warming, and rapid industrialization of China and India, have helped propel the global solar industry into hyper-growth mode. In a very short period of time, solar power has become a viable source of energy and is now recognized as a competitive source of electrical power generation.
Worldwide sales of photovoltaics for 2006 were approximately $16 Billion -- growing 40% annually since 1997. Sales are projected to reach $36 Billion in 2010 and exceed $50 Billion in 2020 (1). With 2.5 GigaWatt (GW) of additional deployments in 2006, solar power is still less than 1% of the total global electricity generation market of 2,000 GW. Clearly, there is room for substantial growth in this market. Just as silicon providers supply silicon wafers to solar cell manufacturers, BioSolar will supply bio-based materials to this hyper-growth market.
The fundamental drivers for solar photovoltaics are the efficiency and cost of converting sunlight to electricity or heat. According to CLSA’s 2005 report, "Sun Screen II – Investment Opportunities in Solar Power," well-positioned players are likely to see enormous growth through at least 2008 and likely 2010. This expansion is driven by demand that outstrips capacity, limited pricing competition and impressive cost reductions.
BioSolar is in a very unique position within the supply chain to provide the entire solar industry, including next generation thin-film manufacturers, further cost reductions through the use of its breakthrough bio-based materials.
BioSolar Opportunity
With solar cell demand continuing to exceed supply for the foreseeable future (5 to 10 years), there is an expanding market for BioSolar’s bio-based materials. The immediate business opportunity for BioSolar is in supplying the industry’s first low cost bio-based backsheets for current solar cell systems.
When using BioSolar materials, the cost reduction over the materials being replaced can be in excess of 50%. The current market for plastic components and layers exceeds $1 billion and growing rapidly. We estimate that the market for backsheet products alone is currently at $300 million.
(1) CLSA’s 2005 report, "Sun Screen II – Investment Opportunities in Solar Power,"