According to research by the design industry association VDMA, in the second quarter of 2022, demand for solar panel production equipment made in Europe surged by 62%, with orders from Europe surpassing orders from Asian countries for the first time.
solar energy system sales by European manufacturers increased by 62% in the first quarter, with European sales soaring fourfold. European orders received in the first two quarters of 2022 already exceed the total value of European orders in 2021. VDMA expects the growth in sales to continue into the third quarter.
A third of sales were attributed to solar systems used to produce solar panels, the VDMA said. The VDMA has been compiling such statistics since 2008.
"In the past, the Asian market was the largest market for German PV production equipment and system manufacturers, but since the first quarter of 2022, orders from Europe have grown and are expected to continue," said Jutta Trube, head of the PV production equipment division at VDMA. increase."
"Overall, we expect demand to remain strong as countries show increasing interest in new local PV capacity."
In fact, Europe, like the US and India, has been very clear about its desire to establish a regional PV manufacturing base. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) looks set to boost solar manufacturing, with India aiming to add 65GW of PV module capacity through a deferred incentive program, but Europe has yet to announce a coherent, well-funded production strategy.
Peter Fath, Managing Director of RCT Solutions and Chairman of VDMA's PV Production Equipment Division, said: "Currently, countries such as the US and India are introducing very attractive measures to boost PV production, and Europe needs to do the same."
"The growth of European programmes and the political will to build PV capacity across the value chain is an opportunity for the EU to make further use of PV production resources."
The chief executives of companies including First Solar, BayWa r.e. and Meyer Burger have written to the European Commission calling for urgent action to support the re-development of European PV manufacturing.
On the same day, the European Commission formally approved a new solar PV industry alliance with the aim of scaling up the manufacturing of innovative PV products and PV modules.
Despite the strong domestic demand figures listed by the VDMA, European solar manufacturing is facing increasing risks from high electricity prices and Maxeon was forced to close one of its module plants in France.
About 35GW of PV manufacturing projects in Europe are at risk of being shut down as high electricity prices undermine efforts to build a solar supply chain across the continent, Rystad Energy research said.
