Changing Paradigms in the Solar Industry: A Case Study

At the moment, there are few industries in the world as fast changing as the solar energy industry. The interest and use of solar energy is as old as mankind. However, the modern solar industry truly started in the fifties, with the discovery of a practical way to make electricity from light, with silicon that could make a photovoltaic material. Photovoltaics is now clearly to become the number one of renewable electrical energy sources in the world. The most striking trend from 2000 to now has been the rise of China, at present the world’s largest. Now, the shift is back to the US, Europe and “sunny countries”, in the developing world. More and more companies are getting into solar, all over the world. Solar energy is the key issue for the 1.5 billion people still living without any electricity at all. Hence the major trends are: New technologies, cheaper and more efficient, new formats Many more players worldwide China dominance changing Solar energy is clearly the future. There is a huge amount of effort to improve it, as it has still barely scratched the surface. The games are constantly changing, with fast growing demand, continuous innovations, new players getting in, big business increasingly interested, China holding on, etc