THE VISION OF LARGE SCALE PV MANUFACTURING IN EUROPE: A DREAM OR A CHANCE FOR EXECUTION?

摘要

The increased use of solar energy in Europe and Germany is essential if the climate goals of the Paris agreement are to be achieved. While the production equipment for solar modules is still manufactured in Germany, the production of cells has almost completely migrated to Asia. However, this process could now be reversed; the production of solar modules could take place in Europe again at competitive costs. According to the study commissioned by the VDMA, this would require a production capacity of at least 5 gigawatts (GW) per year. Today, solar power is one of the cheapest ways of providing energy internationally, especially due to the excellent research and development work in Europe. Prices for modules have fallen by half in the past three years and the usage of solar power is steadily increasing. In Europe alone, 11.5 GW of capacity was added last year. Experts predict an increase of another 24 GW of capacity for the EU next year. Considering the need for sector coupling, an annual increase of more than 100 GW is expected in Europe between 2025 and 2030, which is a significant market size.