Early this month, chemical giant DuPont said that it planned on breaking $1 billion in terms of revenue related to its photovoltaic (PV) business as early as 2011. Whoops! This past week the company said that it actually will break that barrier in 2010.

As Clean Energy Authority reported earlier this month, this is just one example of how hot the solar market is today.

The news is surprising, given the less-than-month period in which the company revised its guidance significantly.,

“I think a couple of things [happened],” said DuPont spokesperson Dan Turner. “With the success of some of our new product launches, we’ve really been able to meet the demand or exceed the growth of the industry. And we’ve also expanded production to meet the strong demand.”

He explained that a new Solamet formulation (a metallization paste used in PV modules to conduct electricity) has proved very successful as have some new encapsulates for PV modules.

“Our broad portfolio of offerings spans crystalline silicon cells and modules as well as thin-film modules, putting us in an ideal position to capitalize on market growth in both segments of the photovoltaics industry,” said Dupont Electronics & Communications President David Miller in a press release.

The revenue is starting to become an important part of DuPont’s business. Though Turner said the company doesn’t break out what percentage of business each part of the company’s sales produce, overall revenue in 2009 was roughly $26 billion. The $1 billion in projected revenue related to PV is equivalent to about 4 percent of the company’s total revenue in 2009. Considering DuPont is a science and chemical giant with significant sales in products for the agricultural, electronics, building, protection (it’s the maker of kevlar, for instance) and other markets, that amount is significant.

Turner explained that the company is seeing significant growth in demand for solar products in the North American market, as well as the European and Asia-Pacific markets.

As impressive as the growth is, he added that company expects to double PV revenue in the next four years, to $2 billion by 2014.