Executive Summary
Silicon anodes market report showcases the analysis of the growth prospects, major challenges, current scenario, and future opportunities in the market. With industries moving toward energy storage solutions with better capacity, lifecycles, energy density, and favourable regulations in various countries, the demand for silicon anodes is expected to grow significantly in the years to come.
This report explores the use of silicon anodes in automotive, electronics, energy storage, and healthcare sectors. The silicon anodes battery technology is anticipated to have good prospects fuelled by the increasing demand for electric vehicles.
Silicon anodes market demand is driven by growing energy density needs for batteries, increasing adoption of solid-state batteries, faster growth in demand for consumer electronics, favourable government regulations and incentives, and increasing demand for energy storage systems in the renewable energy sector. Market report analyses these factors, with a comprehensive market analysis, future market opportunities, and competitive scenario.
Introduction
The global silicon anodes market report aims to explore the vital determinants of the silicon anodes like innovations related to silicon anodes, applications in the industry, and regulatory factors. This report will be a business guide for government policymakers, investors, and companies who are interested in attaining insights regarding this emerging market.
This report intends to showcase the drivers of growth, market patterns, and potential challenges in the market for guiding the companies to design apt competitive strategies. This research discusses impact of EV industry on silicon anodes market.
The report measures impact of applications related to aerospace & defense, satellite communications, silicon enhanced energy storage, and consumer electronics among others on the market by providing a comprehensive industry-wide study.
The research methodology comprises primary and secondary research. Secondary research involves data collection from scientific journals, reports of energy related agencies, industry reports, government reports, income statements and balance sheets of companies.
Primary research involves expert interviews with the major stakeholders such as silicon anodes’ manufacturers, regulatory bodies, and silicon anodes industry experts. Silicon anodes market data is analysed through trend analysis, competitive benchmarking, and statistical models.
Silicon Anodes Market Overview
The silicon anodes market size is valued at US$ 998.5 Mn and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% due to the increasing demand for high capacity silicon battery anodes from different end use industries. As countries are enforcing Paris Accord to bring down the greenhouse gas emissions, they are implementing favourable policies for renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Suppliers are investing in developing new technologies to produce advanced silicon anodes to help these industries with advanced energy storage systems. The market is expected to grow at a strong CAGR during the forecast period on the basis of the conducive policies and the intervention of companies to move toward greener economy.
Key Market Trends
- Growth in Adoption of Silicon Anodes in Electric Vehicles: There is a growing demand for batteries with high capacity in electric vehicles and it is expediting the demand for silicon anodes. Electric Vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla, General Motors, and Hyundai are integrating silicon anodes on their advanced lithium-ion batteries for enhancing range and energy density.
- Increasing focus on Batteries with High Energy Density: Silicon anodes are facilitating batteries to attain energy densities up to 400-500 Wh/kg, when compared to the energy density of graphite-based batteries, which is nearly 300 Wh/kg.
- Silicon-Carbon Composite Anodes: Hybrid solutions such as silicon-carbon composites are deemed as a preferred material owing to improved cycle stability, lower volumetric expansion, and better mechanical durability. The major companies working on these are Group14 Technologies, Sila Nanotechnologies, and Amprius Technologies.
- Development of Solid-State Silicon Anodes: Combination of silicon anodes with solid-state electrolytes is anticipated to prevail over the existing limitations of traditional lithium-ion batteries by providing better safety, improvement in cycle life, and higher energy density. Solid state silicon anode batteries provide energy density of 400 to 500 Wh/kg, 2000 to 3000 cycles, charging time of less than 30 minutes, and volumetric expansion up to 300%.
Industry Analysis
SWOT Analysis
- Strengths: Silicon anodes provide nearly ten times more lithium storage capacity when compared to traditional graphite anodes. Lightweight design facilitates lighter batteries having higher capacity suitable for portable electronics and electric vehicles. Silicon anodes facilitates 80% charging in 15 to 30 minutes. There is an increasing adoption of silicon-based anode materials in the electric vehicles industry.
- Weaknesses: The expansion of silicon by nearly 300% during lithiation is the basis for capacity loss and anode cracking. The manufacturing cost of advanced silicon anodes is almost three times than that required for manufacturing graphite anodes. Only some companies have started commercially manufacturing silicon anodes at scale.
- Opportunities: The booming electric vehicle sales globally is generating greater demand for batteries with high-energy density. Silicon anodes are anticipated to improve renewable energy storage systems at grid scale significantly. The research and development activities related to solid-state silicon anodes by companies such as Solid Power, Samsung SDI, and QuantumScape augurs well for the silicon anodes market. There is potential for silicon anodes in consumer electronics as there is requirement for longer battery life for laptops, wearables, and smartphones.
- Threats: Silicon anodes could face strong competition from lithium-metal anodes based solid-state batteries in terms of safety and energy density. Scaling up of the silicon anodes production need large investments in the infrastructure of manufacturing facilities. Depending upon high-purity silicon might generate vulnerabilities in the supply chain. graphite anodes domination is not easy to overcome soon owing to the longer lifespan and lower cost of graphite anodes.
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
- Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High):
- There are lesser number of global suppliers for silicon oxides, silicon nanoparticles, and high purity silicon. Volatile prices of nano-silicon materials and silicon can give more power to the suppliers. Leading silicon suppliers such as Ferroglobe, REC Silicon, and Elkem ASA hold vital bargaining power.
- The number of global suppliers for high purity silicon, silicon nanoparticles, and silicon oxides are very less. Volatility in the prices of silicon and nano-silicon materials provide higher power to the suppliers. The major silicon suppliers like Elkem ASA, REC Silicon, and Ferroglobe have higher bargaining power when compared to other suppliers.
- Bargaining Power of Buyers (Moderate to High):
- Electric vehicle manufacturers such as Porsche, Tesla, and BMW are among the largest consumers of silicon anodes. It gives them significant negotiation power over supply contracts and price. As there are no alternatives to silicon anodes that provide same energy density, buyers are reliant on suppliers.
- Threat of substitutes (Low to Moderate):
- Some of the substitutes for silicon anodes include lithium-metal anodes, graphite anodes, and sodium-ion based batteries.
- Anodes used in sodium-ion based batteries, graphite anodes, and lithium-metal anodes are the major substitutes for silicon anodes. As graphite anodes offer lower energy density, they cannot offer major threat in the short term. Meanwhile, lithium metal anodes meant for solid state batteries are still under the initial phase of research and development. Sodium ion batteries provide less energy density.
- Threat of New Entrants:
- High research and development costs required for advanced silicon anode development act as a barrier for new entrants to the silicon anodes market. The major companies such as Group14 Technologies, QuantumScape, and Sila Nanotechnologies hold patents to critical technologies and they create another barrier for the new entrants. However, government subsidies, tax incentives, and grants to promote innovation in energy storage encourage start-ups to enter this market.
Target Market
The major industries that are taking lead in adoption of silicon anodes are automotive, electronics, energy storage, and healthcare. These industries require silicon anodes with higher capacity, higher energy density, and higher lifecycles. This shift from the polluting energy sources has led to huge investments in renewable energy projects worldwide.
Likewise, government policies are boosting the production and sales of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles need batteries with longer lifespan and high energy density. In the medical sector, there is a need for many micro electronic devices that need long-lasting batteries.
Consumer electronics devices require fast charging capabilities and longer battery life. Power tools and industrial equipment require long lasting, durable, and lightweight batteries. In aerospace and defense sector, there is need for lightweight batteries having higher energy capacity to carry out longer missions. Buyers intend to have long-term agreements and strategic partnerships with suppliers for reliable production process.
Competitive Landscape
The major players in this Silicon anodes market are Amprius Technologies, Enovix Corporation, Sila Nanotechnologies, Group14 Technologies, and Nexeon Limited. There are numerous start-ups that are developing new silicon anodes.
Automotive companies are partnering with silicon anodes manufacturers for developing advanced batteries for their electric vehicles. Porsche has invested 400 million in Group14 for accelerating the production of silicon-based battery materials. Likewise, Sila Nanotechnologies have entered into a partnership with Panasonic for supplying its Titan Silicon anode material for enhancing the charging speed and energy density of lithium ion batteries of Panasonic.
Asia-Pacific region is dominated by the China as they have a well-established renewable energy infrastructure and electric vehicle infrastructure. Japan and South Korea with well-established consumer electronics industries and electric vehicles market generate demand for silicon anodes. In Europe, Germany, France, and the UK are the leading markets due to the presence of strong electric vehicle industry and favourable government policies for sustainable energy solutions.
Silicon Anodes Market Segmentation
- By Product Type:
- Silicon Nanowires
- Silicon Oxide
- Silicon-Carbon Composites
- Silicon Nanoparticles
- Porous Silicon
- Others
- By Form:
- Powder
- Particles
- Nanotubes
- Films
- Others
- By Capacity Range:
- Below 500 mAh
- 500-1,000 mAh
- 1,000-2,000 mAh
- Above 2,000 mAh
- By End Use:
- Automotive
- Electronics
- Energy Storage
- Healthcare
- Others
- By Region:
- North America
- Europe
- Asia Pacific
- Latin America
- Middle East & Africa
