Consensus and conflict in European PV production

Yet despite this consensus, there are deep divides as to how PV manufacturing should be supported and at what cost. This chasm of opinion is wider nowhere than in Germany, formerly the cradle of modern solar production, but where messy political machinations have seen the coalition government recently walk away from its proposed “resilience bonus” policy.

Lack of resilience

The reliance bonus was a policy supported by the Greens, which is in coalition government on the federal level, in Germany alongside the Social Democrats (SPD) and Free Democrats (FDP). The proposed policy would have paid a bonus to German consumers and solar project developers if they deployed solar modules produced in Europe. 

However, resilient the policy was not. It was conspicuous by its absence in the long-awaited “solar package” legislation, which was agreed to by the coalition parties in April. The package is designed to accelerate solar deployment towards its goal of 20 GW of annual installations – up from 14 GW in 2023 and 7.5 GW in 2022.

On the release of the solar package, Carsten Körnig, the head of Germany’s solar industry association the BSW, told a parliamentary hearing that the resilience bonus had represented, “perhaps the last chance for a renaissance of Germany’s solar industry.”

Already in January, Meyer Burger had announced plans to close its gigawatt-scale module factory in Freiburg, Germany – which the company reported was the largest factory of its kind in Europe. 500 workers were impacted by the decision. The move was made as the writing was already on the wall for the resilience bonus policy. 

Meyer Burger, and its CEO Gunter Erfurt, had been fierce advocates for measures to support solar manufacturing in Germany as a matter of energy sovereignty, to create jobs, and as an opportunity for the country to leverage its established expertise in solar manufacturing technology.  

At the EU PVSEC, the lack of large-scale manufacturing in Europe was highlighted as leaving the PV technology ecosystem incomplete. For a scientific conference, politics was high on the agenda. But opinions as to where to lay the blame for the failure of the resilience bonus to come to fruition were contentious. 

Policy battle lines

On one side, the lack of manufacturing support was attributed to young solar, battery, and home electrification retail and installation companies, which have achieved billion-Euro valuations by selling clean energy packages to directly to consumers. These “new solar” companies are exemplified by Enpal and 1Komma5°, and are understood to have lobbied against the resilience bonus.  

On the other, it was argued that putting taxpayer money towards solar manufacturing in Germany is a folly – with scores of bankruptcies in the last decade a testament to production in Europe not being able to compete with China due to high energy prices, regulations, and labor costs. 

And at the EU PVSEC, a third opinion emerged: that Meyer Burger itself had unintentionally undermined efforts to support solar manufacturing more widely. The argument was made that the technology and processes it deployed in production were uncompetitive, and would have necessitated prohibitively high subsidies. 

Heterojunction, the cell technology Meyer Burger is pursuing, has been plagued by high costs in its lengthy history – particularly relating to the level of silver used in metallization. Furthermore, the crucial PEVCD and PVD production equipment the company had developed for HJT production were largely untested at gigawatt scale – with the company having been unable to find big buyers for its technology before deploying the machines in its own factories.

As is often the case, it is likely the combination of all three factors, along with wider market and macroeconomic forces, that resulted in German policymakers balking and public support for domestic solar production not being forthcoming. And so, the high hopes for a re-energized European production segment, with Meyer Burger at the helm, have been dashed – with the repercussions evident everywhere during EU PVSEC. 

Bright spots

There are, however, glimmers of optimism. Enel Green Power’s 3Sun Gigafactory is set to come online with its full 3 GW of HJT cell and module capacity in 2025 – although it is roughly one year behind schedule. It was supported by the EU’s first Innovation Fund. 

In France, the Carbon project aims to establish 5 GW of vertically integrated TOPCon module production by 2027. In April, the project was granted Major National Interest status by the French government, potentially lowering bureaucratic hurdles to its realization. 

Peter Fath is a veteran of the German solar industry, a board member, and solar spokesperson for the German machinery and equipment manufacturing industry association the VDMA. He is the founder and CEO of solar manufacturing consultancy RCT Solutions, which is working on the Carbon project, and he spoke passionately at the Exhibitor Forum during EU PVSEC.