ABSTRACT
Historically, in the late 1950s, decorative coatings provided the initial thrust for surface-engineered products such as toys, textiles, etc. Since then, the uses of coatings and surface technologies in the areas of engineering and science have produced a dramatic growth in the sales of equipment and products produced, particularly in the last two decades. The semiconductor industry has changed its entire production line every 5-6 years. Suppliers of critical subsystems and components (e.g., vacuum subsystems and process power subsystems) to the semiconductor, at panel display, and data storage industries reached $7.3 billion in 2000. The equipment suppliers for the semiconductor and related manufacturing industries have experienced a real rollercoaster ride in recent times. However, the photovoltaic cell manufacturing industry has rapidly emerged. Sales of critical subsystems for PV applications totaled less than $10 million in 2000 and have grown to a value of $600 million in 2008. The PV industry now accounts for over 11% of the total market for critical subsystems and is expected to reach about 25% by 2014. It is further estimated that only less than 20% of all the potential items that can benet from coatings and surface technologies are being processed today. Components and devices manufactured with coating processes are estimated at hundreds of billion dollars annually.
