The European Commission has launched a public consultation on solar energy on the continent as it continues preparations to publish its solar strategy later this year.
The consultation poses a series of 26 questions aimed to address policy measures that may be required to tackle three specific objectives, namely the acceleration of solar deployment through demand-side measures, supply-side measures exploring the supply of affordable and sustainable PV products and the potential to maximise socio-economic benefits associated with solar deployment.
Remaining open until 12 April 2022, the consultation is being launched by the EC as it builds towards a doubling of the share of renewables to 40% by 2030, a target that has been criticised by some for not being ambitious enough.
The consultation, including details on how to respond, can be found here.
Last year the European Commission included solar manufacturing as one of 14 industrial ecosystems the bloc is keen to support through tailored mechanisms, a commitment which was lauded at the time by trade body SolarPower Europe.
Amidst a clamour to establish solar manufacturing capacity outside of China and Southeast Asia, markets such as the US and India have sought to implement policy support and financial incentives for manufacturing facilities, but Europe has so far resisted such measures.
PV Tech Premium explored what is necessary to re-establish Europe as a destination for PV manufacturing in October last year.