Vertically integrated European PV manufacturing! Moving closer to new HJT and HPBC technologies

As a means of securing the transition and enhancing energy independence, Europe must establish its own large-scale vertically integrated solar manufacturing base for the production of the latest PV technologies, says clean energy consultancy Apricum.

Florian Haacke, partner in Apricum's solar materials and technologies division, says this is because "in order to achieve green growth and energy independence in Europe, Europe has ambitious PV development plans that are put at risk by the current reality of sourcing PV modules mainly from Asia."

"Furthermore, the case for localising European supply is very strong," Haacke said, citing supply diversity, geopolitical tensions, economic opportunities and R&D leadership as comprehensive factors that mean the time is ripe for a European PV manufacturing base.

Apricum has previously said." For a PV module manufacturer to be economically viable in the long run, 3-5GW of annual capacity looks essential to achieve economies of scale."

When asked by PV Tech Premium how this figure was arrived at, Haacke said, "Our global PV module manufacturing experience and financial modelling suggests that a new module manufacturer should be bold enough to set a future scale starting point for advanced technology at 3-5GW. unless of course the company is in a strongly protected niche market.

Scale allows purchasing power and overhead costs to be diluted over a large number of PV modules and important corporate functions such as R&D and marketing/sales can be maintained, which is critical to economic viability."

Apricum says this R&D point is important given the relative infancy of Europe in the solar manufacturing sector.

Haacke explains that "Europe can be described as a 'latecomer' in terms of scaled PV manufacturing, so it makes sense to choose efficient PV cell and module technologies to start a viable PV business."

While Haacke says that "new PV technologies are largely based on new cell technologies integrated into a well-designed module", he also points out that "there is some solid PV cell research in Europe".

He mentioned the Fraunhofer ISE and ISC Konstanz in Germany, INES in France and other technology centres in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.

In order to be competitive in Europe, Apricum recommends that PV companies focus on four key strategies.

1. targeting gigabit scale to ensure cost competitiveness; 2. targeting vertical integration to reduce dependence on PV module imports; 3. focusing on high performance products (N-type, HJT and HPBC) as these can target the attractive "Made in EU" high-end market; 4. and conducting solid analysis before investing.

However, Europe must not ignore these upstream stages of the supply chain in favour of easier and cheaper downstream areas, such as batteries and components. Like the US, Europe has been able to secure some cell, module and even polysilicon capacity, but key components such as ingots and wafers are still severely lacking.

"The lack of a fully developed PV value chain creates the risk of dependence on materials and components. Supply instability triggered by any geopolitics could lead to disruptions in PV manufacturing in Europe. This is particularly true for polysilicon, ingots and wafers, the most fundamental parts of the PV value chain."

"This is why we advocate that polysilicon, ingots and wafers should be high on the list of priorities for Europe. Then there are other materials that need close attention, such as glass, PV film and frame/mounting structures." Haacke added.

The company is not going to operate these facilities on its own. Europe has made it clear that it wants to establish an in-house solar manufacturing centre and reduce its dependence on imports. However, the continent's REPowerEU strategy is likely to be frustrated by rising material and module costs, making the presence of a strong regional manufacturing base even more important.

"Europe already has mechanisms like IPCEI (Projects of Common European Interest of Importance) and various funds (such as the EU Innovation Fund) in place that have proven effective in supporting similar industries, and the PV industry is developing IPCEI proposals for PV manufacturing, similar to those launched for the hydrogen and battery storage value chains.

At the same time, streamlining the permitting process for production plants and siting support will benefit new as well as existing PV companies." Haacke concluded.