EEbeat

At the International Solar Energy Technology Conference in San José today, Paula Mints, Principal Analyst at Navigant Consulting, said she estimates 7.9 GW of solar panels shipped in 2009, much of it driven by incentives. She also estimates that 90% of these were put into grid connected applications. Most of the panels were made from poly-silicon (45%) and monolithic silicon (37%), with Cd Te thin film capturing 13% of the market. 67% of the products went to Europe and only 6% into U.S. installations. And, 60% were manufactured in the Taiwan/China/The Philippines/Malaysia area.