Photovoltaic Solar Energy

DuPont is building a $50 million facility that will produce polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) materials to meet the high demand for photovoltaic solar energy materials. The new facility in Fayetteville, North Carolina is slated to be finished by 2007. The company is stepping up efforts to bump production by 30% to 50% because the solar energy market is booming. Analysts say that the solar energy market is growing by about 30% per year.

DuPont makes eight of the 10 primary materials used in solar cells manufactured by companies such as General Electric Co., BP Plc, Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Corp. This growth may be in part due to the launch of Tedlar PV2100 Series films, part of an extended product line used in the protective backsheets of solar panels. The "films provide increased dimensional stability, tear and abrasion resistance and higher reflectance, which improves output and efficiency," according to DuPont

The expansion has begun at DuPont's Fayetteville, N.C., facility. The business also continues to expand its manufacturing capacity at other sites in Louisville, Ky., and Buffalo, N.Y. In all, DuPont's total investment in the photovoltaic energy expansion is more than $100 million.