Reported by Jeanny H. Lim

What do you see as the trends and market forces driving PV technology in the second half of 2011?

The first half of 2011 has been slow for the PV industry mainly due to the uncertainties around government subsidies. Overall, we think the demand environment will incrementally improve in the second half of 2011, primarily driven by the low pricing, which will make investments attractive at current FiT levels.

How are PV prices expected to develop in the second half?

The rate of decline will be relatively slower in the second half of 2011 because of an uptick in demand, though this will be tempered by large capacity coming online. Most cell/module makers maintained their capacity expansion plan for the year in recent earnings releases.

Where do you put your focus this year, in terms of business growth and technology development?

Overall at KLA-Tencor, we are very optimistic for the long-term growth of the PV industry. We continue to focus on collaboration with our customers across the globe and developing new products that will help customers improve cost/watt.

Jeanny H. Lim is Editor-in-Chief of InterPV. Send your comments to swied@infothe.com.