Reported by Cliff Keys, Editor-in-Chief, PSDE

All things ‘green’ seem to be now attracting private and government investors as well as intensive media coverage in the popular press. This has naturally heightened consumer awareness and desire for energy efficiency products. We can, as a result, expect to see a flow of innovations from the electronics industry. But green products work commercially only when there is a compelling business argument too. This is where the creativity between engineering and marketing professionals works at its best. Regulation for energy efficiency by authorities alone will not suffice.

Enel Green Power, Sharp and STMicroelectronics have signed an agreement for the manufacture of triple-junction thin-film photovoltaic panels in Italy. At the same time, Enel Green Power and Sharp signed a further agreement to jointly develop solar farms.

The agreement regarding the photovoltaic panel factory follows the Memorandum of Understanding between Enel Green Power and Sharp. STMicroelectronics has joined this strategic partnership.

This agreement brings together Enel Green Power, with its international market development and project management know-how; Sharp, and its exclusive triple-junction thin-film technology, which will be operational in the mother plant in Sakai, Japan as of spring 2010; and STMicroelectronics, with its manufacturing capacity, skills and resources in highly advanced, hi-tech sectors such as microelectronics.

The factory, located in Catania, Italy in a facility to be contributed by STMicroelectronics, is expected to have an initial production capacity of 160MW per year and targeted to be increased to 480MW per year over the next years. Photovoltaic panel manufacturing at the Catania plant is expected to start at the beginning of 2011.Huge LED growth forecast

LEDs have received an unprecedented boost in many regions with the increasingly stringent government policies forcing television manufacturers to shift their backlighting to ‘greener’ technologies that consume less electricity, especially at the larger TV sizes where power is a major concern.

LED backlit LCD Televisions will gain huge momentum this year and beyond because of the increasing commitments from various parts of the TV supply chain, consumer demand and a higher focus on green technologies, according to iSuppli Corp.

Shipments of LED-backlit LCD-TV 40-inches and larger in size will this year alone rise by a factor of nearly eight, reaching 18.8 million units, up from 2.5 million in 2009 and by 2013, 83.2% will use LED backlights, up from just 0.1% in 2008 and 6% in 2009.

Panel makers have been investing heavily in LED chipset makers or have been developing their own internal technologies in order to take advantage of what they believe LED-backlit LCD-TVs bring to the table: differentiation, innovation, low power consumption and, of course, the potential to reap the benefits of higher revenue. A barrier to mass adoption is the higher cost at present.

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