The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Earth Policy News--World Sales of Solar Cells Jump 32 Percent

Dear Friends,

Over the next few months, we will be releasing updates of our Eco-Economy
Indicators. The Eco-Economy Indicators, which we maintain on our website,
are the twelve important trends that we measure progress--or lack
thereof--in building an eco-economy.

Today we are launching the first updated Indicator in this trend series.

WORLD SALES OF SOLAR CELLS JUMP 32 PERCENT
http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/2004/indicator12.htm

Viviana Jiménez

World production of solar cells--which convert sunlight directly into
electricity--soared to 742 megawatts (MW) in 2003, a jump of 32 percent in
just one year. With solar cell production growing by 27 percent annually
over the past five years, cumulative world production now stands at 3,145
MW, enough to meet the electricity needs of more than a million homes.
This extraordinary growth is driven to some degree by improvements in
materials and technology, but primarily by market introduction programs
and government incentives.
For entire text
http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/2004/indicator12.htm
For data http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/2004/indicator12_data.htm

And in case you missed it, please check out our latest Eco-Economy Update,
"A Short Path to Oil Independence: Gas-Electric Hybrids and Wind Power
Offer Winning Combination" by Lester R. Brown.
For entire text http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update43.htm
For data http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update43_data.htm