Lux Research State of the Market Reports

While active semiconductor materials garner wide attention in solar technologies, the lesser-known non-active materials significantly impact module efficiency, and account for 15% to 48% of module manufacturing costs. As pricing pressures tighten margins and strengthen demand for higher efficiency modules, commercial manufacturers are pushing the technical and economic limits of today’s non-active materials set. To advance further, new non-active materials that can lower the overall cost per watt ($/W) of module manufacturing costs will be required. We analyzed 21 new non-active materials technologies for the solar market on the basis of their potential impact on $/W module costs and their time to broad commercial adoption. Those earliest to market offer a “new take” on today’s processes, while some of the most radical and promising will be at least five years in coming. With selective adoption by solar market incumbents and large, diversified entrants,new non-active material technlogies are poised to address many of the limitations of today’s standard-bearers. Browse all recent solar reports
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Commercializing nanomaterials requires managing three aspects of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) issues: real risks, perceptual risks, and regulations. After years of slow progress on the EHS front, formal coordination of research efforts and data collection have lead to a clearer picture; however, with large data gaps remaining and with the lack of solid regulations, uncertainty still plagues the landscape. To navigate the unchartered territory, suppliers are adopting an open risk management approach by collaborating with customers, competitors, regulators, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations. Prime examples of this transparent model are the best practices used by carbon nanotube manufacturers. Browse all recent nanomaterials reports
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With virtually every major automaker launching a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or all-electric vehicle (EV) within the next three years, questions abound as to whether these cars will be successful relative to the current generation of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). We developed a model based on vehicle payback periods and found that while HEV sales will reach roughly 3 million units annually by 2020 regardless of the price of oil, PHEVs need oil prices of around $200/bbl to reach that level of success – and EV sales will be a factor of ten smaller even in this scenario. If oil prices hold steady at around $70/bbl, HEVs are the only winners, while at an intermediate price of $140/bbl, light PHEVs will achieve 2020 sales on par with HEV sales today. Electric vehicle markets are also very dependent on governmental subsidies and local gasoline prices, with PHEVs and EVs gaining more traction in the U.S. and Japan than in China and Western Europe. While PHEVs and EVs may not live up to the hype, they still present a big market for batteries: Even in the low scenario, Li-ion batteries for these vehicles will present a $510 million market, and the opportunity could reach $9 billion in the high scenario. Browse all recent alternative power reports
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Industrial water usage accounts for 22% of withdrawals globally, and a much greater share in many developed countries. However, water is not treated as a unified cost center for most manufacturing industries, making opportuntities difficult to identify. Industries that are attractive targets for water equipment providers and technology developers use large volumes of water, have high treatments costs, and show a willingness to pay for new technologies. Water opportunities occur at the intersection of industry, application, and technology, and are often driven by the benefit for water recycling and reuse. Browse all recent water reports
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Venture capitalists (VCs) planted $1.12 billion in 2008 into industrial and agricultural biotechnologies like biofuels, biomaterials, and enzymes, a 26-fold increase from 10 years ago and a cumulative total of $4.17 billion. But even as investors venture ever deeper into these new fields, they have not yet found a clear path to exit. To date their fixation on bioenergy companies has been a response to policy decisions and investments by leading VCs, but to see returns grow, they will need new strategies. They should seek technologies that support multiple feedstocks and products so they don’t wander into dead ends like corn ethanol, and pursue opportunities in food, water, and carbon that balance the challenges inherent in biofuels and biomaterials. Browse all recent biosciences reports
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