Solar Sector To Bail Out Declining Chip Industry?

• Heading into 2009, the global semiconductor industry will take a serious downturn in sales revenues.  2008 saw a decline of 4.4% from 2007, and analysts are predicting a 16% decline in 2009.  Although layoffs and budget cuts will most likely occur, chip companies might just see the light again…..enter the aggressively growing solar industry.
• iSuppli came out with a study in June which claimed investment in solar cell production would match that of the semiconductor industry by 2010.  So, are we looking at a huge boom in the solar industry, or more hype being casually neutralized by the economy?  Many recent developments point towards the former.
• Hemlock Semiconductor announced back in December that they’d raised $3 Billion to expand their current polysilicon manufacturing capabilities.  They’ll be adding a new production building to their Hemlock, Michigan location and building a brand new facility in Clarksville, Tennessee.
• Chip giant, Intel, has been moving towards solar for a while now investing near $100 million into solar startups.  This summer alone, they invested $50 into photovoltaic solar cell startup SpectraWatt, and an additional $37.5 million into German thin-film solar module producer, Sulfercell.  Just a few days ago, Intel revealed a 10KW solar installation at their New Mexico manufacturing plant.
• We’ve also seen some gigantic companies team up to get a piece of the solar pie as well.  Panasonic plans to buy Sanyo, Sharp joined forces with Tokyo Electron, and IBM teamed up with Tokyo Ohka Kogyo all in attempt to boost solar capabilities.  We even saw a chip company release their own solar technology when National Semiconductor launched SolarMagic.
• There are, however, many who argue the other side of the equation.  With the economy in a serious slump and spending on the backburner mixed with a potential oversupply of polysilicon, many analysts are predicting a bad year for the solar industry.  CEO of Novellus Systems, Rick Hill, openly remains skeptical about the apparent solar expansion necessity.   Back in September, we saw Cypress Semiconductors completely divest themselves of their stake in SunPower (previously owned 52%).
• So what will happen?  Will the solar sector blast its way through the recession and carry the semiconductor industry along with it, or will they both ruin eachother with oversupply and unnessesary investments?

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