DuPont Ignores Solar Market Woes (DD)

DuPont, or EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), has announced an initiative today that would have been cheered by investors a few months ago.  The company is continuing to expand its solar operations.  The problem is that the company is doing this  just about every solar company in the world has discussed slowing orders and other players are reducing capacity.  DuPont anticipates that the photovoltaic market will grow by double digits over the next several years.

DuPont says that it expects to nearly triple its annual photovoltaic sales to more than $1 billion in 2012.  But here is the interesting part: it says that this is “based on strong fundamentals for long-term revenue growth in the photovoltaic solar energy market, combined with the company’s ability to deliver new technologies to the industry.”

The company says it can  improve the lifetime and efficiency of photovoltaic modules and it is investing in greater production capability “to help keep pace with the fast rising global demand.”

It lists the current market size today as roughly $30 billion, and it is using industry estimates saying that it will increase to $70 billion by 2013.  The company also stated that the growth rate for thin film is projected to be about twice as high as demand for crystalline silicon.  DuPont has more than 25 years of experience in photovoltaic materials development and manufacturing and it lists more than 10 products critical to photovoltaic production.

Again, this would have generated  much interest just a few months ago.  But go ask Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER) or other solar players about their growth prospects.  There are opportunities, and the good news is that DuPont’s materials put the company higher up the food chain in the solar sector.

The company is signaling tha that it has the foresight to see when the industry will rebound.  There could be another explanation here.  DuPont has seen slowing operations in so many sectors that maybe the “much slower growth” the other solar players expect looks very attractive to a slow growth company.

JON C. OGG