Many European PV project developers face a challenging confluence of events: while PV module prices are expected to rise, with an end to a years-long industry downturn triggered by module manufacturers competing with each other to slash prices, energy markets more broadly are facing sustained lower wholesale prices.
This has created a particular challenge for the European solar industry, where investments in solar deployments are thought of as less lucrative at a time where some of the Chinese manufacturers that supply the majority of European panels are beginning to increase prices of their products, putting a strain on the margins of European developers.
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This is reflected in some of the latest financial reporting in the industry, with figures from LevelTen Energy this week showing that European solar PPA prices are lower than those in other renewable energy technologies, and fell below €35/MWh (US$40.7/MWh) in the third quarter of this year.
Navigating module procurement in this financial environment will be a key topic of conversation at this year’s PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 event, to be held from 2-3 December in Málaga, Spain. The event will tackle procurement challenges directly with a comprehensive agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection, with speakers set to include representatives from leading module manufacturers, testing houses, research organisations and project developers.
One of the first day’s sessions, ‘Adapting Project Economics in a Low Energy Price Environment’, will bring together experts from leading Chinese module manufacturer Huasun, investor Cubico Sustainable Investments and developer RES Group to address the challenges of module procurement and deployment from a number of perspectives, and look at some of the different ways project economics are being made to stack up across different European markets, including co-location with battery storage.
Elsewhere in the event, experts will discuss how European procurement teams must simultaneously optimise cutting-edge technological performance, and competitive pricing, while taking into consideration that the lowest-priced modules may not deliver the best total cost of ownership when factoring in efficiency, durability and sustainability credentials, creating a complex set of criteria for making informed decisions regarding module procurement.
Finance, supply chains and TOPCon
In the lead-up to the event, PV Tech will also be speaking exclusively to a number of industry experts and event attendees to discuss challenges in module procurement, and other important trends in the European solar sector.
For instance, PV Tech has already heard from independent power producer (IPP) Emeren and consultancy Pexapark about the use of standardised power purchase agreements, put in place by the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), and how different types of offtake agreements can be deployed to secure finance in this increasingly challenging environment.
Other key topics to be discussed at the event include the growing importance of transparency and traceability in a company’s product and component supply chain, as environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance becomes increasingly important for developers.
This is particularly pressing at present, with initiatives such as the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) and the Solar Stewardship Initiative, the flagship ESG programme implemented by trade body SolarPower Europe that has just celebrated its third anniversary, helping set a new framework for European solar ESG compliance.
Finally, the technologies used in modules have become a focal point for the industry, and the event will see two separate sessions on the evolution of module technologies, and new testing criteria attached to those developments, and how tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules in particular face performance and reliability challenges.
Experts from leading testing houses, including Fraunhofer ISE, Kiwa PI Berlin, and Clean Energy Associates (CEA) will discuss these trends, and how the lessons learned from current module deployment trends inform future research and development decisions.
This comes as TOPCon becomes an increasingly important part of the European solar sector, with French manufacturer Holosolis agreeing to a patent licence agreement with Chinese giant Trinasolar to use its TOPCon cell technology in Europe. Earlier this year, attendees at another Solar Media event, PV CellTech USA, heard about the growth of perovskite technology in the US solar market, and overcoming some of the challenges associated with TOPCon deployments in Europe could help forge a separate path for the European industry.
PV ModuleTech Europe and PV CellTech USA are part of a series of four annual conferences that focus on PV cell manufacturing and large-scale PV module deployment, in both Europe and the US. For anyone involved in the future of the European solar sector, particularly trends in module technologies and deployment, this event offers unparalleled access to the leaders driving the industry forwards.
For more information and to buy your tickets, click here (PV Tech readers get a 20% discount with the following code: PVTech20).
