Intersolar Europe 2021: Speed and scale critical to Europe’s solar manufacturing hopes

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Solar module production at Meyer Burger’s recently-opened facility in Germany. Image: Meyer Burger.

Establishing solar manufacturing scale at speed will be critical to the continent’s hopes of reviving an upstream solar manufacturing value chain, a panel of experts has concluded.

Speaking at SolarPower Europe’s high-level industry forum, hosted at this week’s Intersolar Europe 2021 exhibition, the trade body’s chief executive Walburga Hemetsberger spoke of Europe’s ambition to have 20GW of solar module manufacturing capacity – with accompanying value chain – within Europe by 2025.

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

This target had placed the sector “on the map”, Hemetsberger said, stating that “eyes and ears are open” with regards what is needed from the upstream solar industry in order to meet that target.

Panelists included representatives of both Meyer Burger and Solarwatt, manufacturers that have committed to building out manufacturing capacity in Europe, however both companies admitted that their respective current capacities are “drops in the ocean” in comparison to what is needed and the kind of scale other manufacturers possess.

Armin Froitzheim, chief technology officer at Solarwatt, said “enormous effort” was being undertaken by manufacturers and component providers from across the chain, ranging from polysilicon and ingot providers to frame, glass and other components, but suggested a comprehensive industrial strategy was required in order to reduce dependence on Chinese suppliers further.

Goran Bye, CEO at Norway-based monocrystalline wafer provider Norwegian Crystals, said Europe’s upstream solar industry needs to appreciate that Chinese manufacturers “knew how to get the price down”, and one of the critical components to this was establishing significant manufacturing scale at speed.

European manufacturers must look to replicate that kind of scale and speed, with Bye adding that this would not be achieved by backing novel technologies that are “still in the research lab”, such as pervoskites. After sufficient scale has been reached, that scale could then serve as a “platform to implement new technologies”.

Mortiz Borgmann, managing director at Meyer Burger (Industries), concurred, stating that Europe’s solar sector must build trust and adopt a more collaborative approach, ensuring that capacities of other components such as glass and aluminium frames also comes forward, with the entire value chain almost serving to de-risk investments in capacity expansions by adding certainty over offtakers.

More in-depth coverage of this panel will be published on PV Tech Premium later this week.

Read Next

August 7, 2025
Array Technologies and OMCO Solar have announced plans to supply US-made trackers for solar projects across the US.
August 6, 2025
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that three companies will receive AU$45.5 million (US$29.5 million) in funding through the Solar Sunshot Program.
Premium
August 4, 2025
Legislation withdrawing vital tax credits has plunged the US solar market into turmoil, putting project deployments and manufacturing at risk.
August 1, 2025
US solar module manufacturer First Solar saw sales and net profits increase in Q2 2025, as it forecasts a strong performance under the Trump administration’s industrial and trade policy changes.
July 29, 2025
China's PV industry faced significant challenges, with production across the manufacturing chain growing at a slow pace, according to CPIA.
Premium
July 25, 2025
At the SNEC expo, Carrie Xiao took the temperature of the industry as it seeks a way out of cutthroat competition and squeezed margins.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines