‘Market Collapse’ Hitting European PV Companies Hard

• Austrian solar PV companies are seeing their business get negatively impacted by the 'solar crisis' in Europe  
• Fronius has announced the decision to lay off 350 employees as its solar energy business unit suffers from a drop in demand  
• suntastic.solar Holding and suntastic.solar Handels have filed for insolvency as cheaper Chinese products in the market make business tough 

Solar supply chain challenges and the 'collapse' of the European solar market in the wake of Chinese dumping are among the reasons that continue to impact European PV companies as more players take extreme measures. The latest in line are companies from Austria.  

Solar PV inverter company Fronius International GmbH has reportedly laid off 350 employees, mainly at its Sattledt site. It blames 'persistently weak sales' in the solar energy business unit as the reason for the step. The company is also involved in the welding and charging station business.   

According to local media reports, the company attributes solar energy business performance to the current solar crisis in the PV market that started with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing in supply chain challenges.  

In 2023, Fronius invested €230 million to expand its Austrian production site and competence center for inductive components in the Czech Republic. With this additional capacity, it could roll out production capacity of up to 70,000 inverters/month.  

However, cheaper Chinese products filling up European warehouses lowered demand for local products. Compounded by lowered electricity costs and uncertainties about subsidies lead to disadvantages for the business, according to Fronius CEO Elisabeth Engelbrechtsmüller-Strauß as quoted by local media reports. She believes the company won't need to undertake any more layoffs now.  

Beyond Fronius, Austrian PV wholesaler and large-scale power plant installer suntastic.solar Holding GmbH and PV distributor suntastic.solar Handels GmbH recently announced insolvency.  

They have filed for restructuring without self-administration with the Korneuburg Regional Court, a move that impacts 125 employees and around 400 creditors, as per local media.    

According to information shared by KSV1870, a credit protection association, the insolvency of the suntastic.solar group impacts 45 employees with its liabilities amounting to €13 million. It is faced with high bad debt losses and an associated write-down due to the insolvency of suntastic.solar Handels Gmbh.  

The business was doing well since its sales revenues increased from €16 million in 2020 to around €125 million in 2023. However, the unexpected collapse of the market for PV systems in 2023 made the situation worse in 2024, forcing it to file for insolvency. Its inventory is now valued at a 75% discount, according to local media.  

These struggles once again bring focus on the challenges the European solar industry has been facing with cheaper Chinese imports. In December 2023, Austrian solar PV module maker Energetica went bankrupt, its 2nd insolvency due to competition from Chinese companies (see Energetica Industries GmbH Files For Insolvency, Again).     

Solar PV companies in Austria's neighboring country Germany are also impacted with Meyer Burger shutting down its module manufacturing facility in favor of the US. Solarwatt also recently announced the shutdown of its module and battery storage manufacturing in Germany citing financial stress due to unfavorable policy and business environment (see Europe Solar PV News Snippets).