"In the next five years, the storage market is poised for 2X volume growth, 2X revenue growth and 3X operating profit growth," said PHOTON Consulting CEO Michael Rogol.

Michael Rogol, Managing Director Michael Rogol is the head of PHOTON Consulting. Prior to that, he worked as a research analyst for brokerage firm CLSA and as a management consultant for McKinsey. Rogol holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

"Operations and processes have potential for massive growth and, possibly, for reshaping the silicon industry", declared Michael Rogol Managing Director of PHOTON Consulting. "The equipment is very impressive, very low-cost, beyond poly-scale. In interviews, several customers have reported cell efficiencies above 14% and some above 15% utilizing 100% (unblended) solar grade silicon from Becancour." A conference call with Michael Rogol of PHOTON Consulting will take place on Wednesday May 14, 2008 to discuss the conclusions of the report. An executive summary of the report will be made available on Timminco's website at www.timminco.com prior to the conference call. Details of the conference call will be released under a separate release.

"I have not seen a more beautiful example of rapid expansion of cash flow of any sector I've looked at and it looks like it will continue for the next few years," said Michael Rogol, a solar market analyst for CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, a brokerage firm of Credit Lyonnais for large institutional investors.Consumer demand has played a critical role behind the boom.In an effort to combat steep fuel and electricity bills _ a result of scorching oil and natural gas prices _ an increasing number of homeowners are snapping up solar panels."What we have seen globally is that most installations take six months or longer from the time of ordering," Rogol said.This year, solar-energy companies are on track to rake in an estimated $12 billion in revenue worldwide, up 50 percent from 2004, according to Rogol.By 2010, he expects that figure to more than triple to $40 billion.

But the price for solar-grade silicon rose to about $32 per kilo last year and has traded at an average of $40 so far this year, said Michael Rogol, a senior analyst for CLSA and MIT's energy and environment lab.Mr. Rogol said he expects solar-grade silicon to average $50 next year.Electronics-grade silicon, which is slightly purer than solar-grade and can also be used for solar cells, will cost about $60, he said. “Prices for silicon are just flying up,†thanks to rapid growth in the solar industry, Mr. Rogol said.Mr. Rogol said he expects prices for solar modules will rise 10 percent this year and 5 percent next year.On the other hand, Mr. Rogol said prices will not slow solar growth, because demand isn't tied to cost. “This is not the natural economies of demand, but demand driven by policy,†he said.Growth is already being constrained by the availability of silicon, but will still grow 30 to 35 percent this year, he said. Total operating profits this year are expected to be $2.5 billion, up from $800 million last year. “The demand in the solar sector is so strong you would get much, much stronger numbers if there was enough silicon,†said Mr. Rogol.In any case, Mr. Rogol sees sunshine at the end of the shortage.Silicon producers, who are seeing the highest profits in several years, are considering capacity expansions, he said.He expects the global supply to grow to at least 50,000 tons by 2010, compared with about 35,000 tons of polysilicon available this year, he said. He had a word of caution, however.Because of all the reselling, reprocessing, and recycling in the silicon industry, silicon producers don't keep track of what happens to the silicon once they sell it, he said. “No one on the planet understands what is happening with the silicon supply,†he said.