Solar capacity in the U.S. increased 37 percent in 2009, despite the economic recession, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Revenues also reached $4 billion last year, representing an increase of 36 percent compared to 2008. “We expect 2010 to be a breakout year for the U.S. solar industry,” announced SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch. “The right policies and industry innovation continue to drive solar’s energy’s growth across America. Now we’re talking gigawatts of solar energy, not megawatts.”

The growth is being driven mainly by utilities, which tripled their solar photovoltaic capacity from 22 MW to 66 MW, the SEIA reported. New state mandates requiring utility companies to produce a percentage of their power from nonpolluting sources are benefiting the solar industry. Leading the way is California with its mandate calling for 20-percent renewable energy.

Globally, the U.S. ranks fourth in newly installed solar electric capacity with 481 megawatts, the SEIA reported. State support in most European countries drives investment in photovoltaic equipment. In Germany, a feed-in tariff of 27 cents per kilowatt hour has produced an explosion in the use of solar photovoltaics and in Japan the government has set a target for 30 percent of all households to have solar panels installed by 2030.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEF), new global demand for solar panels may double this year as Germany and other European countries offer guaranteed, above-market rates for the power produced. NEF, in its photovoltaic industry outlook, said solar panel installations will probably rise to between 11.5 gigawatts and 14.8 gigawatts in 2010 from 7.3 gigawatts in 2009.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2009 projects that, by 2030, overnight capacity costs for new generating plants using solar photovoltaics will be 37 percent lower than the 2009 costs. In addition, the efficiency of solar photovoltaic applications is expected to improve as the technology continues to be developed.

Attracting alternative energy companies is a key initiative in Michigan, where state officials have created a supportive environment for chemical and technology business development. Among the state’s recent success stories is the new $55 million Evergreen Solar plant in Midland, Michigan, where high-tech components for solar power panels are manufactured.

Evergreen Solar produces String Ribbon™ solar panels, which are fabricated through a proprietary process that pulls two high-temperature filaments through molten silicon to produce a continuous strip of wafer material. The Midland plant coats the filaments with silicon and carbon through an electro-vapor deposition process before shipping them to Evergreen manufacturing sites around the world.

The Midland plant’s architects specified a protective wall and flooring system using StrataShield resinous coatings from Tnemec. “They wanted to have an easy-to-clean flooring system that was durable and had the ability to bridge minor cracks,” Tnemec coating consultant Dan Haines recalled. “They also needed a secondary containment system, which was a fiberglass mat reinforced epoxy system.”

Planning and application of the flooring system involved the collaborative effort of Haines, who is based in Ohio, and Tnemec coating consultant Ken Hartwig, who covers the Michigan area. Haines assisted the Cincinnati architectural firm in writing coating specifications for the new plant, while Hartwig worked directly with the coating contractor.

The project's concrete floors primed with Series 201 Epoxoprime, a moisture tolerant, high-solids polyamine epoxy. Coving around the perimeter of the floor was primed with Series 205 Terra-Tread FC, a fast-cure polyamide epoxy, followed by Series 237 Power-Tread, a polyamine epoxy mortar bulked up with silica sand. The floor and cove received a basecoat of Series 206 Sub-Flex EP, a flexible epoxy underlayment for bridging small substrate cracks in concrete, and a finish coat of Series 290 CRU, an extremely hard, chemical-resistant polyester polyurethane.

Walls were sealed and primed with Series 130 Envirofill, a waterborne cementitious acrylic. Series 113 H.B. Tneme-Tufcoat, a high-performance semi-gloss acrylic epoxy with stain-, abrasion-, chemical- and moisture-resistance, was then applied in two coats.

A secondary concrete containment system in the plant was primed with a high-solids polyamine epoxy, followed by Tnemec’s Series 239SC ChemBloc, a novolac polyamine epoxy, which was applied over a fiberglass mat to protect against harsh chemicals, thermal cycling, impact and abrasion. A highly chemical- and solvent-resistant colored novolac glaze coating was applied as the finish coat.

The Midland plant is already planning an expansion to meet the demand for solar panels. “We hope they will specify the same coating system on the extension,” Haines added.