Going Solar One Better

The solar power industry is like a muscle car ready to bolt from the starting line. Demand is rising rapidly, and firms are going public faster than you can say whiplash. But one thing is holding the industry back: polysilicon. About 95% of solar panels require polysilicon, but newer technologies like “thin film” will slowly increase their market share.

The most prominent thin-film company is Energy Conversion Devices (nasdaq: ENER – news – people ). ECD’s shares have risen to $44 from about $7 two years ago, partly because the company owns patents for nickel metal hydride batteries, which are used in hybrid cars. But ECD also has a 25-megawatt solar plant grossing $80 million per year, and it’s building another plant of equal size.

forbes