Demand Source: Energy Utilities and Consumers Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the global solar energy market has seen significant progress. Solar panel production doubles every 2 years. However, this supply appears to exceed demand. Energy is a homogeneous commodity and, regardless of the source, consumers' main concern when deciding on energy suppliers will be cost. Therefore, it is crucial for utility companies to keep costs low. If they can generate good margins using low-cost solar cells, rather than using traditional sources (coal, natural gas), then they will. However, this is not yet the case. Solar energy is simply still too expensive, and will be until economies of scale are achieved. In the short term, for solar energy to be successful, it is critical that subsidy programs exist to bring price reductions to the PV sector. It is predicted that with improvements to solar cells and manufacturing processes, a new era for solar energy could exist beyond 2010. If the cost per kWh of solar energy can be competitive with existing grid kWh, the industry could free yourself from your addiction. on subsidy programs. We haven't reached this point yet. Currently the largest markets for solar energy are Germany (35% of the global solar market), Spain (23%), the United States (10%) and Japan (8%).(2) Market success German solar is the result of the feed-in tariff system. This means that for every kWh produced by a solar system, the energy company pays a cost-covering fee to the solar energy producer. This cost is covered by a surcharge for all German users. It is expected that the tariff will be reduced proportionally in the coming years. Other markets also use this subsidy, inc...... middle of paper ......ucts. These companies typically also offer process design engineering services. Some of the specific equipment needed in a polysilicon plant: 1.) Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors – production chambers used to deposit high purity polysilicon onto wafers. 2.) A gas supply module and heat exchanger: instrumentation and piping for all gases and cooling water entering and leaving the reactors and converters. 3.) Electric arc furnace: purifies the silicon from other materials4.) Silicon tetrachloride converter: recycles the gas used in the CVD process5.) Saws for cutting silicon rods and filament making toolsSome of the equipment suppliers include GT Solar, which produces entire systems for manufacturers of polysilicon (mainly CVD reactors and the process engineering involved), as well as VRV Spa, which supplies both 36 and 48 rod CVD reactors.