Sunday, September 14, 2008

Which Concentrating Solar Companies Are Doomed?

Lots o'links.
From Greentech Media:

Greentech Media's senior analyst Eric Wesoff says only about 10 percent of venture-backed concentrating photovoltaic companies will survive.
Only three out of the 25 venture-capital funded companies developing concentrating photovoltaic technology will likely succeed, wrote Eric Wesoff, a senior analyst at Greentech Media in his blog Thursday.

The three startups will stand apart from the pack by developing technologies that are more efficient at using sunlight to produce electricity, Wesoff said. As a result, these companies will not just win market share but also provide good returns for their backers by going public or getting acquired, Wesoff said.

Concentrating photovoltaics, or CPV, use lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight and direct it onto solar cells. Wesoff recently compiled a list of the CPV companies and described their work, which can be found here, here, here and here.

A silicon shortage that began in 2005 has made the CPV technology attractive to some investors and entrepreneurs. Concentrating photovoltaic systems use less silicon than conventional solar panels, which dominate the market today....MORE