DuPont India Moves into Photovoltaic Market and Targets Revenue of $1 Billion by 2012

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As part of expansion initiatives aimed at achieving revenue of $1 billion by 2012, DuPont India (Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh), a subsidiary of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company (NYSE:DD) (Wilmington, Delaware) recently announced the introduction of a new business initiative, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions (DPVS), to foray into India's photovoltaic market. DPVS will function as the marketing face of DuPont's solar power products and provide technical assistance to customers in India's market. DuPont also plans to set up research and development divisions for this segment to support its photovoltaic divisions worldwide. DuPont's global photovoltaic business segment rakes in annual revenues close to $300 million. The company is looking to achieve revenue of $30 million by 2010.

DPVS will bring a range of products, such as conductive pastes for thin film and crystalline silicon modules, encapsulant sheets, films, flexible substrates and resins to the Indian market. These advanced materials are known to increase the efficiency and lifetime of solar modules and are expected to improve the productivity of Indian photovoltaic module manufacturers. DuPont plans to invest in materials, advanced technology and manufacturing processes to enable development of photovoltaic cells and modules with increased lifetime and better efficiency.

DPVS plans to set up a photovoltaic lab with an initial team of five to 10 scientists at its upcoming knowledge center in Hyderabad. The center is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year. DuPont has already invested nearly $37.5 million in the development of the center and plans to invest an additional $37.5 million every year in the center. DuPont currently generates revenues of $500 million from its businesses in India.

DuPont has similar plans to boost revenue in its Chinese operations from the present $300 million to over $1 billion over the next five years through expansions in its local photovoltaic business division. In June, it announced plans to double the production capacity of its Solamet range of products at its facility at Electronic Materials DuPont Dongguan Limited (Beijing). The thick-film metallization pastes are used for the metallization of solar cells on both sides to reduce cost per watt through low material consumption, high production yields and high cell efficiencies.

India's government has received proposals aggregating $20 billion from corporate majors, such as Tata BP Solar (Bangalore, Karnataka), a joint venture of Tata Power (BOM:500400) (Mumbai) and BP Solar, a division of BP (NYSE:BP) (London); Reliance Industries Limited (BOM:500325) (Mumbai); and Videocon Industries Limited (BOM:511389) (Aurangabad, Maharashtra), which are looking to invest in the domestic solar photovoltaic industry, The Hindu Business Line reported. The global photovoltaic industry, which is currently dominated by Germany, saw worldwide production of solar photovoltaic cells increase 51% to 3,733 megawatts (MW) in 2007. More than 2,935 MW of solar modules were installed last year, increasing the total number of worldwide installations to more than 9,740 MW. Over the last two years, China has registered a sixfold increase in its domestic production capacity of photovoltaic modules to 820 MW.

With increasing availability of polysilicon, introduction of new technology, scaling up of production, and increase in manufacturing efficiencies, solar power is being viewed as a competitive alternative to conventional sources of power. India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy released funds of $18.75 million toward solar energy development programs in 2007-08.

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