 Under PV Manufacturing R&D subcontracts, Shell Solar has improved production efficiency. Using automated processes, as shown here, the company builds the electrical connections on the back of a Shell Solar monocrystalline silicon module. |
The PV Manufacturing R&D Project works with photovoltaic industry partners to strengthen the United States' role in the world PV market and improve manufacturing processes. A useful way of measuring the U.S. industry's success in the world marketplace involves evaluating the U.S. production, in megawatts (MW) of shipped PV product, compared to the rest of the world's production.
The U.S. market share has changed dramatically since the 1980s. From 1980 to 1985, the U.S. industry dominated the world market contributing 50% or more of world production. In 1985, however, that relative share declined and has varied significantly since then.
The "U.S. Market Share of World Production" graph below represents the total annual world PV production. The black curve and left (vertical) axis of the graph illustrate the relative portion the United States has contributed to annual world production. It is useful to note that world shipments increased to a record high of 1727 MW during 2005. The largest annual increase in U.S. production since data collection began — a 35% increase — occurred between 2003 and 2004. U.S. production reached a record of more than 153 MW in 2005.
 U.S. Market Share & World PV Cell/Module Production (MW) |
The figure above shows the U.S. and total world PV production for each year, represented by the bi-colored bar area.
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