The German Mechanical Engineering Federation (VDMA) counts 40% sequential increase in incoming orders for the country’s solar PV equipment makers in the period between July 2021 and September 2021. At the same time, sales in the reporting quarter went up by 9%, and as much as 20% compared to Q3/2020 (see Q3/2020 Sales Up For German PV Equipment Makers).

It was the 2^nd consecutive quarter, according to the VDMA, that registered 2:1 ratio for orders and sales. “The growing orders in the field of photovoltaic machine and plant construction point in the right direction. Especially compared to the previous year there is a clear increase and a new dynamic,” said Head of VDMA Photovoltaic Production Equipment Dr. Jutta Trube.

Even though this is a reason for cheer for the companies, domestic orders during the quarter declined to less than 10% and those from America also went downhill. China scored once again with more than 80% incoming orders from the Asian giant, the 1^st time it has exceeded this number in 2021.

VDMA said companies are cautious in their forecasts as they face delivery bottlenecks and continued uncertainty due to COVID-19, but added that demand is still strong and new market opportunities are being seen.

Things may get better in Q2/2022 or Q3/2022, as per Dr. Peter Fath, Managing Director of RCT Solutions GmbH and Chairman of the Board of Directors of VDMA Photovoltaik Produktionsmittel. He explained, “The developments in the worldwide projects for photovoltaic production are good, but there are delays caused by the pandemic. The great challenge for the German and European photovoltaic machine and plant construction is to deal with the bottlenecks and ongoing uncertainties in a tailor-made way.”

Fath recently participated in TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar Technologies Conference where he discussed the feasibility and need for setting up solar PV production capacity outside of China with a local supply chain (see Day 1: High Efficiency Solar Technologies).