DuPont expects to more than triple its solar sales

The head of Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont (NYSE: DD) said today that his company is well positioned for long-term growth in a number of fields, including renewable energy, forecasting sales in solar photovoltaics to more than triple in the next few years.

"It's a business for us that was well less than $100 million just three years ago — is $300 million today. Very profitable product line for us," said Charles Halliday, CEO of the chemical maker, at an investor's conference in New York.

"We believe it can be $1 billion within five years."

Earlier this month, the company announced plans to boost its solar capacity, saying it would build new facilities in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China (see DuPont to build new facilities in China for solar).

DuPont said it would build a research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen.

The company, which said it has long been a supplier of materials primarily serving the crystalline silicon cell and module markets, said the expansions in China would provide new offerings to serve the amorphous silicon thin film market.

"Not the big, bulky frames you know today, the thin film that could also be in the rooftop of your car, could be in the glass of every building, could be designed into your house in a very friendly way," said Halliday.

DuPont currently offers films, resins for encapsulants, encapsulant films, and conductive pastes for solar modules.