Hoku Scientific, originally a fuel cell membrane developer, is now pushing ahead with its solar expansion.

This is a 2 step expansion plan which paves the way for some vertical integration;

Step 1: build a polysilicon production plant in Hawaii (where the company is located) to provide their own internal supply of the material for photovoltaic cell production as well as to supply the market in general.

Actually I think this is quite shrewd, although highly capital intensive- too many solar pv manufacturers have been held hostage by the supply shortage of silicon

Step 2: "Hoku Solar" - the solar division - then enters the photovoltaic market through the manufacture of PV modules derived from the polysilicon factory with an initial capacity of 30 megawatts per year beginning in the second half of 2008

Nevertheless, silicon wafer production is starting to pick up - it takes about 2 years to get a Fab up and running and quite a lot Fabs will be coming online in the next few years. Are we looking at a silicon glut in 2010?