Semiconductors for Alternative Energy Technologies: Opportunities and Markets

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Aug 18, 2014, 01:20 ET

LONDON, Aug. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportbuyer.com has added a new market research report:

Semiconductors for Alternative Energy Technologies: Opportunities and Markets

https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/2244706/Semiconductors-for-Alternative-Energy-Technologies-Opportunities-and-Markets.html

The high price of oil in the past few years has been a catalyst for development in other alternative energy sources. Semiconductor technology surrounding the alternative energy markets includes advanced IGBT design, optoelectronics, advanced power conversion ICs, digital signal processing, MCUs, and advanced mixed signal and analog circuits. This report discussed the potential for these products to be the next killer green application.

The market for semiconductors for solar and wind grew 25.4% in 2012, reaching revenues of $1.4 billion. Revenues from these two alternative energy technologies grew another 26.5% in 2013.

Renewable, alternative energy technologies continue to grab the attention of private industries and world governments. Semiconductors are used in these technologies to convert the energy or power to something functional, such as converting solar energy into electricity.

Semiconductors used in products such as inverters, include MOSFETs, IGBTs, SiC, microcontrollers, DSPs, and discretes. The overall global market for PV inverters well more than doubled in 2010, driven by main European markets. While the top 10 inverter suppliers were European, IC manufacturers of these devices have a more global presence.

Alternative energy technologies analyzed in the report are:

• Solar
• Wind
• Fuel Cells
• Storage
• Geothermal
• Nuclear

The semiconductor content of solar energy conversion systems is projected to grow to $934.2 million in 2017.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Introduction 1-1

Chapter 2 Solar Energy 2-1

2.1 Solar Infrastructure 2-1
2.1.1 Current developments 2-2
2.1.2 Worldwide installed photovoltaic totals 2-9
2.1.3 Applications of PV 2-11
2.1.3.1 PV Power Stations 2-11
2.1.3.2 PV in Buildings 2-13
2.1.3.3 PV in Transport 2-15
2.1.3.4 PV in Standalone Devices 2-18
2.1.3.5 Rural Electrification 2-18
2.1.3.6 Solar Roadways 2-19
2.1.4 Economics of PV 2-19
2.1.4.1 Power Costs 2-19
2.1.4.2 Grid Parity 2-20
2.1.4 Financial Incentives 2-21
2.1.5 Solar Forecast 2-24
2.2 Semiconductor Technology 2-26
2.2.1 Key Component Semiconductor Devices 2-26
2.2.2 Semiconductor Forecast 2-38

Chapter 3 Wind Energy 3-1

3.1 Wind Energy Infrastructure 3-1
3.1.1 Electricity Generation 3-2
3.1.1.1 Grid Management System 3-2
3.1.1.2 Capacity Factor 3-3
3.1.2 Turbine Placement 3-4
3.1.3 Offshore Wind Farms 3-4
3.1.4 Utilization Of Wind Power 3-9
3.1.5 Small Scale Wind Power 3-16
3.1.6 Economics And Feasibility 3-17
3.1.6.1 Growth And Cost Trends 3-17
3.1.6.2 Theoretical Potential 3-25
3.1.6.3 Direct Costs 3-25
3.1.6.4 External Costs 3-26
3.1.6.5 Incentives 3-27
3.2 Semiconductor Technology 3-28
3.2.1 Key Component Semiconductor Devices 3-28
3.2.2 Semiconductor Forecast 3-32

Chapter 4 Fuel Cells 4-1

4.1 Fuel Cell Infrastructure 4-1
4.1.1 Fuel Cell Design 4-1
4.1.2 History 4-3
4.1.3 Types of fuel cells 4-4
4.1.3.1 Polymer Electrolyte Membrane 4-4
4.1.3.2 Phosphoric Acid 4-6
4.1.3.3 Direct Methanol 4-8
4.1.3.4 Alkaline 4-8
4.1.3.6 Molten Carbonate 4-10
4.1.3.7 Solid Oxide 4-12
4.1.3.8 Proton Exchange Fuel Cells 4-15
4.1.3.9 Regenerative (Reversible) Fuel Cells 4-20
4.1.4 Efficiency 4-20
4.1.4.1 Fuel cell efficiency 4-20
4.1.4.2 In practice 4-21
4.1.5 Fuel cell applications 4-23
4.1.5.1 Suggested applications 4-24
4.1.5.2 Hydrogen transportation and refueling 4-28
4.1.6 Fuel Cell Manufacturers 4-34
4.2 Semiconductor Technology 4-45
4.2.1 Key Component Semiconductor Devices 4-45
4.2.2 Semiconductor Forecast 4-54

Chapter 5 Storage Technology 5-1

5.1 Storage Infrastructure 5-1
5.1.1 Usage And Applications 5-2
5.1.2 Charging And Discharging 5-4
5.1.3 Active Components 5-6
5.1.3.1 Common Rechargeable Battery Types 5-9
5.1.3.2 Less Common Types 5-10
5.1.4 Recent Developments 5-11
5.1.5 Alternatives 5-11
5.1.6 Batteries for Electric Vehicles 5-12
5.2.6.1 NiMH Batteries 5-12
5.1.6.2 EV Li-Ion Rechargeable Batteries 5-16
5.1.6.3 Start-Stop Batteries 5-34
5.2 Semiconductor Technology 5-40
5.2.1 Key Component Semiconductor Devices 5-22
5.2.2 Semiconductor Forecast 5-28

Chapter 6 Geothermal Energy 6-1

6.1 Geothermal Energy Technology Infrastructure 6-1
6.1.1 Geothermal Technologies 6-1
6.1.2 Advantages 6-6
6.1.3 Disadvantages 6-7
6.1.4 History Of Development 6-8
6.1.5 Development Around The World 6-8
6.1.6 Geothermal Forecast 6-18
6.2 Semiconductor Technology 6-19
6.2.1 Key Component Semiconductor Devices 6-19
6.2.2 Semiconductor Forecast 6-22

Chapter 7 Nuclear Power 7-1

7.1 Nuclear Power Infrastructure 7-1
7.1.1 History 7-4
7.1.1.1 Origins 7-4
7.1.1.2 Early Years 7-5
7.1.1.3 Development 7-7
7.1.2 Future Of The Industry 7-8
7.1.2.1 Micro Reactors 7-12
7.1.3 Nuclear Reactor Forecast 7-32
7.2 Semiconductor Technology 7-53
7.2.1 Key Component Semiconductor Devices 7-53
7.2.2 Semiconductor Forecast 7-55

Chapter 8 Energy Harvesting 8-1

8.1 Harvesting Energy 8-1
8.1.1 Vibration Energy 8-3
8.1.2 Thermoelectric Energy 8-6
8.1.3 Electromagnetic Energy 8-11
8.1.4 Piezoelectric Energy 8-13
8.1.5 Electrostatic (Capacitive) Energy 8-15
8.1.6 Light Energy 8-16
8.2 Storing Energy 8-16

LIST OF TABLES

2.1 Total Photovoltaic Peak Power Capacity By Country 2-10
2.2 World's Largest Photovoltaic Power Plants 2-12
3.1 Operational Offshore Wind Farms 3-7
3.2 Wind Farms Under Construction 3-8
3.3 Installed Windpower Capacity (MW) 3-10
3.4 Annual Wind Power Generation (TWh) 3-12
3.5 U.S. Installed Capacity (Megawatts) 1981-Present 3-14
4.1 Fuel Cell Comparisons 4-17
4.2 Fuel Cell Details 4-18
5.1 Rechargeable Battery Technologies 5-7
5.2 10-Year Costs For Electric Vehicle Batteries 5-14
5.3 Breakeven Costs For EV Batteries – 40 Mile Range 5-15
5.4 Breakeven Costs For EV Batteries – 100 Mile Range 5-17
5.5 Technical Targets: Inverter/Motor Powertrain 5-37
5.6 Technical Targets: Integrated Inverter/Motor 5-38
7.1 Worldwide Nuclear Reactors By Region 7-2
7.2 Small-Medium Reactors 7-15
7-3 Number Of Reactors In Operation Worldwide 7-32
7-4 Number Of Reactors Under Construction Worldwide 7-33
7-5 Nuclear Share In Electricity Generation (%) 7-34
8.1 Comparison Between Different Ambient Energy Sources 8-2

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Flat Plate Solar Collector 2-3
2.2 Parabolic Trough Solar Collector 2-4
2.3 Solar Dish/Engine Collector 2-5
2.4 Solar Power Tower Collector 2-6
2.5 Forecast Of Solar Power 2-25
2.6 Block Diagram Of Microcontroller-Based Inverter 2-29
2.7 Block Diagram Of Solar Inverter System 2-30
2.8 Full Bridge IGBT Topology 2-35
2.9 PV Inverter Market Distribution 2-37
2.10 Semiconductor Revenues From Solar Energy Systems 2-39
3.1 Evolution Of U.S. Commercial Wind Technology 3-5
3.2 U.S. Installed Capacity (Megawatts) 3-15
3.3 Worldwide Wind Turbine Shipments 1995 - 2012 3-19
3.4 Wind Power As Percent Of Electricity 3-21
3.5 Semiconductor Revenues From Wind Energy Systems 3-31
4.1 Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell 4-5
4.2 Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Fuel Cell 4-7
4.3 Alkaline (AFC) Fuel Cell 4-9
4.4 Molten Carbonate (MCFC) Fuel Cell 4-11
4.5 Solid Oxide (SOFC) Fuel Cell 4-13
4.6 Proton Exchange Fuel Cell 4-16
4.7 Transition To A Hydrogen Economy 4-29
4.8 Hydrogen Reformer Fueling Station 4-32
4.9 Diversified Fuel Cell Development 4-35
4.10 Shipments Of Stationary Fuel Cells 50kW And below 4-40
4.11 Shipments Of Stationary Fuel Cells above 4-41
4.12 Worldwide Fuel Cell Shipments 2003 - 2012 4-44
4.13 Fuel Cell Inverter In Car 4-46
4.14 Block Diagram Of Fuel Cell Inverter 4-50
4.15 Semiconductor Revenues From Fuel Cell Systems 4-55
5.1 Mass And Volume Energy Densities Of Secondary Cells 5-8
5.2 Battery Capacity For An Electric Vehicle 5-19
5.3 Battery Price With Increased Production 5-20
5.4 Cathode Material Cost 5-23
5.5 Target For Li-Ion Rechargeable Batteries 5-25
5.6 Diverse Range Of Candidates For Cathodes 5-28
5.7 Improving Cathode Materials 5-30
5.8 Battery Loads - Conventional Versus Stop-Start System 5-35
5.9 Shipments Of Start-Stop, HEV, PHEV, AND EV 5-38
5.10 Start-Stop Market Forecast 5-39
5.10 A Simple Diagram Of A HEV Traction Drive System 5-42
5.11 A More Complex Diagram Of PEEM In A Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) 5-43
5.12 Conducting And Switching Loses For Inverter 5-45
5.13 Unit Pricing Trends In Power Semiconductors 5-47
5.14 Power Discrete Market Forecast For HEVs and EVs 5-48
6.1 Geothermal With Well to Magma 6-2
6.2 Conventional Geothermal Well 6.4
6.3 Geothermal Heat Pump 6-5
7.1 Hyperion Nuclear Reactor 7-13
7.2 Heat Transfer For Different Primary Coolants 7-30
7.3 Historical And Projected World Energy Use By Energy Source, 1980-2030 7-52
8.1 Technologies for Harvesting Energy 8-4
8.2 Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvester 8-5
8.3 Thermoelectric Energy Converter And Photovoltaic Cell 8-7
8.4 The Four Main Blocks Of A Typical Energy-Scavenging System 8-9
8.5 The LTC3108 Converter/Power Manager 8-12
8.6 Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Beam and MEMS Varactors 8-14
8.7 Constant-Current/Constant-Voltage Battery Charging Model 8-17