Domestic manufacturing ‘changes the whole supply chain,’ says Finlay Colville at UK Solar Summit

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
solar power portal
“Apart from products going into the US and India, everywhere else will buy products from China,” said Finlay Colville on the first day of the UK Solar Summit. Image: Solar Power Portal.

Solar Media head of research Finlay Colville noted that a greater emphasis on domestic manufacturing “changes the whole supply chain,” on the first day of the UK Solar Summit, held today in London.

He began by outlining broad market trends that have shaped the current solar landscape. Chief among them is the “manufacturing downturn” unfolding in 2024 due to drastically low component and module prices, which Colville predicted last year. In a downturn – “driven by a lack of profitability in manufacturing” – manufacturers still need to supply the market, and so their priority becomes “cost, cost, cost,” he said.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Solar module costs are split between silicon and non-silicon across the supply chain. Colville says that the issue that caused the downturn was that in 2022-23, the industry expected non-silicon costs, those stemming from the ingot to module in the supply chain, to drop. They didn’t, and silicon costs from overwhelmingly Chinese polysilicon production had almost bottomed out already. This put huge pressure on the profit margins of module manufacturers and drove them to lower module prices however they could.

The second major factor is the emergence of trade disputes around the solar industry, particularly in the US and India, against China. The US’ imposition of a number of trade tariffs on Chinese PV imports, most recently the emerging antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariffs, may limit imports of solar cells from Chinese-owned companies operating in Southeast Asia to the US.

In response, the US solar sector is looking to expand its own manufacturing capacity, with the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition calling for a “strengthening” of an onshore supply chain earlier this year.

“How do you nurture domestic manufacturing?” asked Colville. “Either you just finance the whole sector, or you have to put barriers in to stop any product coming into the country at any cost. The US is choosing the second option … but it’s much more strategic in India.”

“Apart from products going into the US and India, everywhere else will buy products from China. The only other thing that’s driving traceability is corporate purchasing, where every company has an environmental, social and governance (ESG) department … and sets buying conditions.

“But they are nowhere near as detailed, as rigid, as comprehensive as what you get in countries where there are trade policies in place. It’s very superficial, it’s largely a box-ticking exercise.”

You can read the full coverage of the UK Solar Summit, including the full version of this story, on our sister site, Solar Power Portal.

1 July 2025
London, UK
UK Solar Summit 2025 will look at the role solar currently plays in the energy mix, how this will change over the coming years and how this aligns with net-zero and other government targets. We will break down all these challenges and help build up solutions through discursive panels, motivational keynotes and case studies, with newly added interactive sessions to get you moving and meeting your peers, making the connections you need to boost your business.
7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Heliene has completed the sale of Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credits in association with Minnesota-based U.S. Bank.
June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
US clean energy developer Clearway Energy Group has received corporate credit facilities over US$1 billion.
June 27, 2025
PV Tech spoke to Monika Paplaczyk about recent changes in the UK energy mix and opportunities for investors in the solar sector.
June 26, 2025
A round-up of news from the US solar sector this week, including Akuo, Meta and RWE.
June 26, 2025
A group of minority shareholders in Norwegian silicon firm REC Silicon has triggered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the closure of the company’s US polysilicon production site.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece