Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate says it is funding research into the possibility of quickly restoring the entire solar energy supply chain in Europe. Three German companies are leading the research and are asking other industry stakeholders to participate.
The survey is led by the VDMA, the solar power factory experts RCT Solutions and the research institute ISC Konstanz. They are inviting other industry stakeholders in Germany and Europe to participate in the research, which they plan to launch at a major workshop during the Intersolar Europe exhibition and conference in Munich in June.
“Germany can immediately start large-scale, fully integrated production. Although this requires billions of investments,” says Wolfgang Jooss, CTO of RCT Solutions. “Currently, more than 90% of solar components are manufactured in Asia. But we have shown with large projects in Turkey and India that with the right framework conditions, the industry can rise again with its entire value chain.”
Europe and Germany in particular were the regions to which dependence on Russian gas supplies had to be reduced quickly. The European Union has reacted with plans to bring part of the manufacturing of clean energy technology to the region, but many have criticized these actions as too little. As ambitious solar manufacturing plans move ahead in other regions – notably the US and India – critics say Europe is in danger of being left behind.
The aim of the German study is to analyze the entire solar electricity supply chain and find out the fastest ways to create the entire ecosystem, including supply chain materials, manufacturing, research and development, and qualified personnel. To produce competitive, efficient products and establish a CO2 Neutral functions are also prioritized.
printed edition of pv magazine
The current number pv magazine focuses on solar manufacturing technology that enables market expansion for new-age, high-efficiency modules, including interdigitated back contact (IBC) and perovskite tandem solar cells. The magazine maps the latest technical and investment decisions in the high-efficiency solar energy manufacturing segment, as well as the materials and product development that support them. Reports come from France, Japan, India, Indonesia, Israel, England, the United States and China, and we also explore the problems of solar car pioneers.
The leaders of the study point out that Germany used to be the market leader in solar energy manufacturing and its universities and research institutes maintain a strong position in the research and development side of the industry, which should give it a good chance to re-establish its position in the manufacturing of these technologies. in scale.
“All important innovations in modern crystalline silicon solar energy come from Germany,” says Radovan Kopecek, research director at ISC Konstanz. “The research institutes here work on today’s and tomorrow’s technologies. The dream of all of us is to have large factories here again, where this development will be used and further developed.
