Joint Push For 20 GW European Solar Manufacturing

• Meyer Burger and SMA Solar have jointly called for an industrial strategy to pitch for solar PV manufacturing within Germany and Europe
• They believe there is potential for 20 GW annual production capacity from wafers to modules for the region
• The whitepaper released suggests measures as 100 million solar roofs target for Europe with 10 million for Germany
• They want Germany to adopt a 10 GW annual installation target for solar PV till 2030

Two solar PV industry heavyweights—Meyer Burger Technology AG from Switzerland and SMA Solar Technology AG from Germany—have called on politicians in Europe to formulate a national and European industrial strategy in the field of solar PV manufacturing in Germany and Europe.

In a whitepaper released by the duo, titled Solar Production in Germany: Strategic innovation leadership as a cornerstone of European energy sovereignty, they build a business case for solar PV manufacturing in the region as a job creator and revenue generator.

Some of the main points covered in the whitepaper are:

• It expects European PV industry's potential to sport 20 GW of integrated annual production from wafers to modules leading to the creation of around 14,000 permanent direct jobs, excluding those created during installation, operation and maintenance of commercial and industrial (C&I) solar systems.
• It argues that the most modern PV technology including intellectual property is Made in Europe which means 'Germany and Europe may have the last chance of a renaissance in PV production—including a role as a pacemaker for the central key technology of renewable energies in the coming decades'.
• The whitepaper calls heterojunction (HJT)/SmartWire as the 5G standard in photovoltaics that compares to the switch from 4G to 5G in the mobile communications sector, a technology through which Europe can assert itself in the long term, also in relation to the Asian competition. Notably, Meyer Burger is transitioning from being known as a leading PV equipment supplier to a HJT solar cell and module manufacturer using its own SmartWire technology (see Meyer Burger Selects German Locations For PV Production).
• Both the companies also stress that the German PV industry has been a key innovation driver in the field of inverters and system technology.
• They want Germany to adopt a 10 million solar roofs target and a 100 million solar roofs target for Europe; mandatory installation of solar systems for new buildings with intelligent home storage systems and e-mobility sector; development and simplification of the tenant electricity models, and special tenders for large-scale PV systems in urban areas as a separate segment within the PV auctions from 750 kW.
• Under Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) 2021, which currently being revised, they demand the expansion corridors to be readjusted to 10 GW annually till 2030, as against planned 4 GW to 5 GW under the Ministry of Economy's 100 GW proposal (see Germany: Plans For >45 GW Solar Addition From 2021-29).

"In the context of this development, there is an opportunity in Germany and Europe to use the boom in solar energy and to set the pace for this central key technology of renewable energies," said Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt. "To do this, we need a holistic industrial strategy that thinks about the generation of electricity and the production of the necessary technologies together. We need short-term supportive measures that improve the framework conditions."