Clean Energy Technology Observatory, Photovoltaics in the European Union : status report on technology development, trends, value chains and markets : 2024.
Date: 2024-11-13
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: energy technology, photovoltaic cell, renewable energy, report, research and development, value chain

ISSN 1831-9424 

CLEAN ENERGY 
TECHNOLOGY 
OBSERVATORY

Photovoltaics in the European Union 

STATUS REPORT ON TECHNOLOGY 
DEVELOPMENT, TRENDS, VALUE CHAINS & 
MARKETS 

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DEVELOPMEMT

EUR 40073 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This document is a publication by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge 
service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The contents of this 
publication do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission. Neither the European 
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concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 

Contact information 
Name: Anatoli Chatzipanagi 
Address: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy 
Email: anatoli.chatzipanagi@ec.europa.eu 

EU Science Hub 
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu 

JRC139297 

EUR 40073 

PDF 

ISBN 978-92-68-20993-6   ISSN 1831-9424   doi:10.2760/1812909 

KJ-01-24-077-EN-N 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2024 

© European Union, 2024 

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How to cite this report: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Chatzipanagi, A., Jaeger-Waldau, A., Letout, S., Mountraki, A., Gea 
Bermudez, J., Georgakaki, A., Ince, E. and Schmitz, A., Clean Energy Technology Observatory: Photovoltaics in the European Union - 2024 Status 
Report on Technology Development, Trends, Value Chains and Markets, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2024, 
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/1812909, JRC139297. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contents 

Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 

Foreword on the Clean Energy Technology Observatory ......................................................................................................................... 4 

Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 

Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 

1 

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 

1.1  Scope and context ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 

1.2  Methodology and Data Sources ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 

2  Technology status and development trends ......................................................................................................................................... 11 

2.1  Technology readiness level .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 

2.1.1 

Photovoltaic (PV) module technologies ........................................................................................................................ 11 

2.1.2 

Established and emerging innovative PV deployment applications ........................................................... 15 

2.2 

Installed Capacity and Production ................................................................................................................................................... 17 

2.3  Technology Costs ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 22 

2.4  Public RD&I Funding and Investments .......................................................................................................................................... 27 

2.5  Private RD&I funding ................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 

2.6  Patenting trends .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 

2.7  Scientific publication trends................................................................................................................................................................. 35 

2.8  Assessment of R&I project developments .................................................................................................................................. 38 

3  Value Chain Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 42 

3.1  Turnover ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 42 

3.2  Gross value added ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 44 

3.3  Environmental and socio-economic sustainability ................................................................................................................ 44 

3.4  Role of EU Companies ............................................................................................................................................................................. 45 

3.5  Employment ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46 

3.6  Energy intensity and labour productivity ..................................................................................................................................... 49 

3.6.1 

Energy intensity ........................................................................................................................................................................... 49 

3.6.2 

Labour productivity .................................................................................................................................................................... 50 

3.7  EU Production Data ................................................................................................................................................................................... 51 

4  EU Market Position and Global Competitiveness ............................................................................................................................... 53 

4.1  Global & EU market leaders ................................................................................................................................................................ 53 

4.2  Trade (Import/export) and trade balance .................................................................................................................................... 59 

4.3  Resource efficiency and dependence in relation to EU competitiveness ................................................................ 61 

5  Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 63 

References .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 65 

List of abbreviations and definitions ................................................................................................................................................................. 73 

List of boxes ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 76 

List of figures ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 77 

1 

 
List of tables ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 80 

Annexes Annex 1 Summary Table of Data Sources for the CETO Indicators .......................................................................... 81 

Annex 2 Countries, regions and continents coding ................................................................................................................................... 82 

Annex 3 Energy System Models and Scenarios: POTEnCIA and POLES-JRC ............................................................................. 83 

A3.1 POTEnCIA Model .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 83 

A3.1.1 Model Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 83 

A3.1.2 POTEnCIA CETO 2024 Scenario ..................................................................................................................................................... 84 

A3.2 POLES-JRC Model ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 84 

A3.2.1 Model Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 84 

A3.2.2 POLES-JRC Model description ......................................................................................................................................................... 85 

A3.2.3 Global CETO 2°C Scenario 2024 ................................................................................................................................................... 86 

A3.3 Distinctions for the CETO 2024 Scenarios – POLES-JRC vs. POTEnCIA ................................................................... 87 

Annex 4 EU Supported R&I Projects for PV ................................................................................................................................................... 88 

Annex 5 Upstream c-Si technology sector and downstream utility-scale installation sector .................................... 106 

Annex 6 Sustainability Assessment Framework ...................................................................................................................................... 107 

Annex 7 List of EU companies for polysilicon, ingot, wafer, cell and module production equipment and for 
module components, tracking systems and inverters ......................................................................................................................... 121 

2 

Abstract 

As part of the Clean Energy Technology Observatory (CETO), this report on Photovoltaics (PV) is built on three 
sections: the technology state of the art, future developments and trends, the value chain analysis and the EU 
position and global competitiveness. PV is the fastest-growing source of electricity production from renewable 
energies  and  a  pillar  for  EU’s  energy  transition.  According  to  projections,  an  even  broader  deployment  of 
photovoltaic systems is required in order to achieve the goals set in the European Green Deal (EGD). The current 
trend  of  the  EU  market  shows  that  it  is  growing  faster  than  what  is  required  to  reach  the  new  PV  system 
capacity  installations  by  2030  as  described  in  the  EU  Solar  Strategy  communication.  As  the  overall  global 
demand for PV components is growing even faster than in the EU and trade frictions can occur, precaution is 
required to avoid a fallout of international supply chain disruptions on the deployment of PV in the EU. To hedge 
such a risk, the EU value chain should be able to supply at least 25-35 % of the EU market. At the moment, 
this is possible for the production of polysilicon, backsheets, contact materials, inverters and balance of system 
components. Additional new capacities for wafers, cells and solar glass production are needed. 

3 

Foreword on the Clean Energy Technology Observatory 

The European Commission set up the Clean Energy Technology Observatory (CETO) in 2022 to help address the 
complexity and multi-faced character of the transition to a climate-neutral society in Europe. The EU’s ambitious 
energy and  climate policies create a necessity to tackle the related challenges in  a comprehensive manner, 
recognising the important role for advanced technologies and innovation in the process.  

CETO is a joint initiative of the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), who run the observatory, and 
Directorate Generals Research and Innovation (R&I) and Energy (ENER) on the policy side. Its overall objectives 
are to: 

   monitor the EU research and innovation activities on clean energy technologies needed for the delivery of 

the European Green Deal  

   assess the competitiveness of the EU clean energy sector and its positioning in the global energy market  

   build  on  existing  Commission  studies,  relevant  information    &  knowledge  in  Commission  services  and 

agencies, and the Low Carbon Energy Observatory (2015-2020) 

   publish reports on the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) SETIS online platform. 

CETO provides a repository of techno- and  socio-economic  data on the most  relevant  technologies and 
their integration in the energy system. It targets in particular the status and outlook for innovative solutions 
as well as the sustainable market uptake of both mature and inventive technologies. The project serves as 
primary source of data for the Commission’s annual progress reports on competitiveness of clean energy 
technologies. It also supports the implementation of and development of EU research and innovation policy.   

The observatory produces a series of annual reports addressing the following themes:  

   Clean Energy Technology Status, Value Chains and Market: covering advanced biofuels, batteries, bioenergy, 
carbon capture utilisation and storage, concentrated solar power and heat, geothermal heat and power, 
heat pumps, hydropower & pumped hydropower storage, novel electricity and heat storage technologies, 
ocean energy, photovoltaics,  renewable fuels of non-biological origin (other), renewable hydrogen, solar 
fuels (direct) and  wind (offshore and onshore). 

   Clean Energy Technology System Integration: building-related technologies, digital infrastructure for smart 
energy  system,  industrial  and  district  heat  &  cold  management,  standalone  systems,  transmission  and 
distribution technologies, smart cities and innovative energy carriers and supply for transport. 

   Foresight Analysis for Future Clean Energy Technologies using Weak Signal Analysis 

   Clean Energy Outlooks: Analysis and Critical Review 

   System Modelling for Clean Energy Technology Scenarios 

   Overall Strategic Analysis of Clean Energy Technology Sector 

More details are available on the CETO web pages 

4 

 
Acknowledgements 

The authors would like to thank 

- 

Teodor Kuzov (JRC.C.7) and Leonidas Mantzos (JRC.C) for their reviews and comments. 

-  Nigel Taylor (CETO project leader) for his support, review and comments. 

The authors would like to thank the following colleagues for their valuable contribution to this report: 

-  Marcelina  Grabowska  and  Olivier Eulaerts  (JRC.I.3  TIM  team)  for the  bibliometrics  and  R&I  projects 

data. 

- 

Lucia  Mancini,  Cynthia  Latunussa,  Umberto  Eynard  and  David  Pennington  (JRC.D.3)  for  their 
contribution regarding the environmental sustainability of PV. 

-  Ugo Simeoni, Maider Machado, Daniel Maraver (CINEA) and Maria Getsiou (DG RTD) for the Innovation 

Fund and Horizon Europe data. 

-  Moritz Wegener, Marc Jaxa-Rozen, Raffaele Salvucci, Frederik Neuwahl, Przemyslaw Sikora, and Máté 

Rózsai for the POTEnCIA energy sytem modelling. 

- 

Burkhard Schade, Kimon Keramidas, Florian Fosse, Paul Dowling, Peter Russ for the POLES-JRC energy 
system modelling. 

The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable input received by the following experts: 

- 

Johan Lindahl (European Solar Manufacturing Council - ESMC). 

-  Gaëtan Masson and Melodie de l’Epine (Becquerel Institute, IEA-PVPS Task 1). 

Authors 

Anatoli  Chatzipanagi,  Arnulf  Jäger-Waldau,  Simon  Letout,  Aikaterini  Mountraki,  Juan  Gea  Bermudez,  Aliki 
Georgakaki, Ela Ince and Andreas Schmitz. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Executive Summary 

Following  the  EU’s  commitment  towards  climate  neutrality  by  2050,  the  publication  of  the  6th 
Intergovernmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change  (IPCC)  Assessment  Report  in  April  2022  combined  with  the 
geopolitical developments in 2022 and the COP28 agreement that fossil fuels are responsible for the climate 
change  accentuated  the  urgent  need  of  the  clean  energy  transition.  To  this  end,  in  2022,  the  European 
Commission presented the REPowerEU and the EU Solar Energy Strategy with the aim of reducing net emissions 
by at least 55 % by 2030 and more than 500 GWp additional increase of the photovoltaic capacity by 2030. 
Furthermore, it raised the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5 % by 2030 
(with an additional 2.5 % indicative top up to allow the target of 45 % to be achieved) in order to reduce net 
emissions by at least 55 % by 2030 through the “Fit for 55” package. In addition, the recently proposed Net-
Zero Industry Act aims to set the required environment to scale up manufacturing of net-zero industry in the 
EU and face up to the future demand. The target set is for 30 GWp of European manufacturing along the entire 
value chain by 2025 and 40 % of installed solar PV being manufactured within the continent by 2030, with an 
additional specific target for an increased 15 % EU share of global production by 2040. 

Photovoltaics is the fastest-growing source of electricity production from renewable energies and a pillar for 
the EU’s energy transition and the accomplishment of the European Green Deal (EGD). The global cumulative 
PV installed capacity exceeded 1.6 TWp in 2023 and estimates for  2024 vary  from a shrinking market to a 
significant increase to over 550 GWp, which would bring the total cumulative installed PV capacity to over 2 TWp. 
The  EU  alone  reached  a  cumulative  installed  PV  capacity  271  GWp  at  the  end  of  2023  and  a  cumulative 
electricity generation of approx. 230 TWh from PV systems. The average PV module efficiency has increased 
from 9 % in 1980 to 14.7 % in 2010 and 21.8 % in 2023. Silicon-based photovoltaic technology remains the 
predominant technology (efficiency of 25 %) but research regarding performance, integration and sustainability 
is still essential. As far as thin-film technologies are concerned, they account for only 3 % of global production 
and the way forward for Copper Indium (Gallium) Selenide (CIGS) and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) technologies 
is mass production to benefit from scaling effects by considering at the same time the supply of potentially 
critical materials for their production. Depending on the learning curve, perovskite module (module efficiency 
19.2  %,  record  cell  efficiency  25.2 %)  manufacturing  could  quickly  achieve  comparable  costs  compared  to 
current technologies. Multi-junction technology, silicon-based tandems with III-V top material (32.65 % module 
efficiency)  together  with  perovskite-silicon  tandem  devices  (25.8  %  module  efficiency)  are  the  two  most 
promising and efficient technologies. 

Current technological advancement and market orientation are moving towards the replacement of Passivated 
Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) architecture (~21 % module efficiency with projections reaching 22 % in 2034) 
by n-type Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) (23 % module efficiency with projections reaching 24 % 
in 2034) that will further increase efficiency. Bifacial modules are emerging in the market (increase of their 
50 % market share in 2023 to 73 % in 2034). Ideal for applications that allow the absorption/exploitation of 
light from both sides of the module (front and rear), for different orientations and needs, like in the case of 
emerging innovative PV applications like agrivoltaics. 

Solar PV costs have fallen significantly since 2010, mainly due to the large-scale manufacturing and also the 
intense Research & Development (R&D) efforts of the past decades and the significant amounts of funding. 
Both PV module prices and the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCoE) have decreased considerably and further 
decreases are foreseen in the next years. The global weighted-average LCoE for utility-scale projects fell by 
90 % between 2010 and 2023 from USD 417/MWh to USD 41/MWh. Projections for the EU indicate that in 
2050 it will further decrease by approximately 60 % compared to 2020. The relevant regulatory and economic 
schemes, such as feed-in tariffs and minimum targets for generation from renewables in electricity systems, 
together with the above-mentioned cost reductions have rendered PV a competitive technology. 

EU’s public Research & Innovation (R&I) funding is not always reported for all member states and for this reason 
caution in the interpretation of the results is advised. EU’s public Research & Innovation (R&I) funding in solar 
was approx. 30 % of the global public R&I funding solar in 2010 and grew to 56 % in 2022. The compound 
growth of public R&I funding on PV between 2012 and 2022 in the EU increased by 1 % whereas at a global 
level it decreased by 4 %. The EU’s share in the global private Research & Development (R&D) funding in PV 
increased from 15 % in 2010 to 16 % in 2020. Both EU’s and global private R&D funding in PV experienced a 
23 % compound increase in the period 2010-2020. The EU is in 4th position in terms of the total number of 
patents after China (1st), South Korea (2nd), and Japan (3rd) but ranks 1st in high-value patents above the United 
States (2nd) and the rest of the world (3rd). The publications regarding PV technologies, systems, and applications 
generated in the EU are found to be significantly fewer than those of other countries (mainly China) but slightly 
more highly-cited (as are also publications from Switzerland and the United States). 

6 

 
From  2014,  a  total  of  approximately  EUR  1.4  billion  has  been  invested  in  three  hundred  and  forty  four  PV 
projects through EU funding programmes. Half of the total budget was dedicated for projects on performance 
enhancement  and  cost  reduction,  whereas  one  fifth  on  projects  related  to  diversified  applications  and 
integrations. In terms of technology, one fourth of the total budget was given to silicon heterojunction projects 
(of these EUR 344 million, 90 % was awarded to the Innovation Fund TANGO and HOPE projects) and 10 % to 
projects related to perovskite technology. 

The Energy Payback Time (EPBT) of PV systems has experienced a 12.8 % decrease over the past 24 years. The 
EPBT of a PV system in Southern Europe is one year, whereas in Northern Europe less than a year and a half. 
Nonetheless, it is also important that the PV sector further reduces its environmental footprint and becomes 
more circular along the entire PV value chain.  

EU’s PV estimated turnover increased  from EUR  9 billion in 2015 to EUR 41 billion in 2022. The compound 
growth  between  2015  and  2022  is  estimated  to  be  24  %  with  the  top  five  Member  States  (Germany,  the 
Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland) accounting for 70 % of the EU’s turnover in 2022. Germany together with 
the US, Japan, China and South Korea host almost 70 % of identified innovators. The EU as a total hosts 19 % 
of innovators in the field of PV in 2022 (against 22 % in 2021). In particular, Germany holds the 4th position 
behind  the  US,  China  and  Japan  among  the  world’s  leading  countries  in  terms  of  innovation.  The  EU  has 
significantly  increased  job  creation  in  PV  in  recent  years  mainly  due  to  the  large-scale  deployment  of  PV 
systems, thus limited to the downstream and not the upstream value chain (i.e. manufacturing). The compound 
growth of PV employment in the EU is estimated to have been 32 % in the period between 2020 and 2023. 
According to a medium scenario, jobs in 2028 are expected to more than double in the manufacturing sector 
compared to current levels. Jobs in the deployment and Operation & Maintenance (O&M) sectors are projected 
to increase by 20 % and 87 % respectively by 2028. Decommissioning and recycling-related jobs could increase 
by 89 % according to the same medium scenario. Finding the needed workforce will be challenging and the 
appropriate actions must be taken at an early phase (skilling, re-skilling, up-skilling, etc.). As expected (due to 
their strong presence in both the downstream as well as the upstream value chain), at global level, the number 
of PV-related jobs created in China is more than 10 times higher than that of the EU. 

Between 2012 and 2023, the compound decrease in production value in the EU was 7 %, slightly recovering 
from the EUR 1 474 million of production in 2020 to reach EUR 2 143 million in 2023. China has a leading 
market in PV and exhibits small dependence on the EU as far as imports are concerned. Almost all leading solar 
cell and module production companies are Chinese and they dominate the PV module shipments. In 2023, China 
accounted for 87 % (from 65 % in 2015) of the global cell production and 82 % (from 69 % in 2015) of the 
global module production. The respective share for the EU was 0.3 % for cells and 0.9 % for modules. In addition 
to the above mentioned shares, it is essential to consider that manufacturing utilisation rates have decreased 
considerably  in  2023.  The  most  pronounced  decreased  occurred  in  the  polysilicon  segment  (61  %  in  2023 
against 86 % in 2022 globally). More in particular, China changed its polysilicon utilisation rate from 91 % in 
2022 to 61 % in 2023, while the EU decreased from 81 % in 2022 to 63 % in 2023. The global utilisation rate 
for cell manufacturing remained rather stable, around 60 %. The global module manufacturing utilisation rate 
in  2023  was  53  %,  whereas  the  EU  was  33  %.  These  utilisation  rate  decreases  are  the  result  of  demand 
overestimation resulting into overproduction, mainly in China. 

For 2023, the top five module manufacturing companies, include four Chinese and one Canadian company and 
they  accounted  for  50  %  of  the  global  module  production.  With  regard  to  manufacturing  capacities  under 
construction, the EU is investing mostly in module capacities, accounting for 7 % of the global module capacities 
under  construction  and  remains  behind  in  the  other  segments.  China’s  under  construction  capacities  range 
between 60-96 % (depending on the segments) of the global total. China is expected to maintain its dominance 
in market share of global supply chains (80-95 % depending on the segment). Additionally, the costs for PV 
manufacturing in China are considerably lower than in other regions. According to a 2022 IEA report, costs in 
China are 10 % lower than in India, 30 % lower than in the United States, and 60 % lower than in Europe. The 
Agency draws attention to the possibility that these cost differences will increase to 70 % for India, 100 % for 
the  United  States  and  140  %  for  the  EU  by  2028,  despite  the  adopted  policies  aiming  to  strengthen  their 
domestic  manufacturing  market.  In  the  inverter  market,  in  the  recent  years,  SMA  (Germany)  and  Power 
Electronics  (Spain)  have  grown  less  than  other  companies  from  China  and  therefore  did  not  maintain  the 
considerable  market  share  they  enjoyed  until  2020.  Together,  the  above-mentioned  European  companies 
accounted for 14 % in 2018 to 7 % in 2022. SMA has decreased its 6 % share in global inverter manufacturing 
in  2021  to  3  %  thereafter.  In  2023,  the  top  two  companies,  Huawei  and  Sungrow,  with  annual  inverter 
productions of 160 GWAC and 150 GWAC respectively, accounted for half of the PV inverter production, whereas, 
the top ten for 82 %. The EU saw its market share in inverter manufacturing decrease from 23 % in 2019 to 
6 % in 2023. 

7 

 
The EU as a total but also each member state (MS) individually exhibit a growing negative relative trade balance 
already since 2013. The EU’s extra-EU imports have increased by 18 % between 2015 and 2023, while for the 
same period, its exports decreased by 14 %. In 2021-2023, China remained the main importing partner holding 
94 % of total extra-EU imports in value, while the EU exported mainly to the United Kingdom, Switzerland and 
the United States. 

The EU is not directly affected by a high-risk supply of critical raw materials since, for now, it is importing final 
products and  not  the  primary  raw  materials.  However,  taking  into  consideration  the  planned  large-scale  EU 
domestic PV manufacturing and the commitment to render EU competitive, raw materials supply may become 
crucially relevant in the short-term. The use of silver for connections has been identified as a potential concern 
due to the expected large-scale manufacturing activity in the next few years and therefore there is continuous 
R&D for the minimisation of silver use as well as raw materials substitution like copper. Particular attention is 
needed also regarding PV glass that is lacking in the EU and has to be imported, mainly from China. 

Therefore, the increasing deployment of photovoltaic systems is crucial for the next years, both to reach the 
EGD targets and to allow the reduction of electricity generation costs. 

Table 1. CETO SWOT analysis for the competitiveness of photovoltaics. 

Strengths 

Weaknesses 

The EU is a technology leader in polysilicon as well as 
certain manufacturing equipment. 

Energy  and  labour  costs  in  the  EU  are 
significantly higher than for trading partners. 

The  EU  has  advanced  and  highly  automated 
manufacturing techniques. 

   Planning  procedures  and  permitting  is  too 

long, which increases costs. 

   Strong EU support (under REPowerEU policy) and global 

markets. 

   Strong  R&I  activities  regarding  new  materials  (e.g. 

perovskites) and applications. 

Low  carbon  footprint  for  EU  sourced  and  produced  PV 
modules. 

Financing  is  a  major  issue  to  build  PV 
production plants along the value chain. 

Limited  acceptance  of  low  profit  margins  in 
value chain parts of PV manufacturing. 

   Shortage of skilled workers in case of strong 
growth of manufacturing and deployment in 
the EU. 

   Negative 

trade  balance 

for 

the  EU, 

particularly with China. 

limited 

The 
for 
support 
manufacturing  do  not  follow  the  global 
market growth. 

schemes 

The  EU  has  decreased  its  share  in  global 
inventions. 

Opportunities 

Threats 

The EU has several world-leading R&D clusters for silicon 
PV and thin film technologies. 

   PV manufacturing in the EU could be competitive under 
the  condition  that:  i)  it  is  done  in  large  gigawatt-scale 
factories (economy of scale) and ii) these factories are 
fully  integrated  across  all  stages  of  the  value  chain 
(ingot, wafer, cell and module) and highly automated. 

   Creation of green jobs in both the manufacturing and the 

deployment sectors. 

   High automation in manufacturing will decrease labour 

The  economic  availability  of  critical  raw 
materials  used  in  current  module  designs 
may be a limitation. 

The concentration of large share parts of the 
supply chain in one country poses a risk for 
the  security  of  supply  and  resilience  of  the 
industry. 

   More direct and targeted support schemes for 
manufacturing  are  being  applied  in  the  US 
(IRA) and India (PLI). 

costs. 

Source: JRC 2024 

8 

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
1 

Introduction 

1.1  Scope and context 

This report on photovoltaic (PV) energy is part of the annual series reports from the Clean Energy Technology 
Observatory (CETO) (European Commission, 2023a). It address technology maturity status, development and 
trends; value chain analysis and global market and European Union (EU)  positioning, and builds on previous 
European Commission  studies in this field (Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-Waldau, et al., 2022;  Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-
Waldau, Cleret De Langavant, et al., 2023). 

Over  the  past  decade,  photovoltaics  has  become  a  mature  technology  and  the  fastest-growing  source  of 
electricity  production  from  renewable  energies.  It  is  the  technology  that  converts  light  into  electricity  using 
semiconductors (special type of materials) exploiting the photo-electric effect. The main types of photovoltaic 
cell and module technologies are the crystalline silicon (mono and poly), the thin-film (Copper Indium (Gallium) 
Selenide, Cadmium Telluride, amorphous silicon, perovskite), and the multi-junction (multiple p-n junctions of 
different semiconductor materials absorbing different wavelengths of light) modules. The photovoltaic systems 
can be ground-mounted, building-mounted or building-integrated. According to how the produced electricity is 
handled,  the  systems  can  be  grid-connected,  stand-alone  or  grid-connected  with  battery  backup.  There  are 
different  main  types  of  photovoltaic  systems:  residential,  commercial  or  utility-scale  systems.  The  main 
components of a photovoltaic system are the photovoltaic modules, the tracking system, the balance of system 
and the inverter. 

The publication of the 6th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report in April 2022 
(IPCC,  2022)  and  the  geopolitical  developments  in  2022  have  highlighted  the  urgency  of  the  clean  energy 
transition. At the end of 2023, the Conference of the Parties (COP28) acknowledged officially for the first time 
that fossil fuels are responsible for climate change and over 100 countries agreed to triple renewable energy 
capacity  and  double  the  global  rate  of  energy  efficiency  by  2030  (World  Economic  Forum,  2023).  The 
geopolitical  developments  in  2022  forced  the  European  Commission  to  react  with  the  REPowerEU 
Communication  (European  Commission,  2022b)  and  the  EU  Solar  Strategy  Communication  (European 
Commission, 2022a) in March and May 2022 respectively. REPowerEU aims to reduce net emissions by at least 
55 % by 2030 and the EU Solar Strategy called for an additional photovoltaic capacity of over 500 GWp between 
2021 and 2030, which would mean a roughly fourfold increase of the nominal capacity to over 720 GW p by 
2030. As an intermediate step towards climate neutrality (European Green Deal) by 2050, in December 2020, 
the European leaders endorsed the Commission’s proposed target to reduce net emissions by at least 55 % by 
2030.  Within  the  framework  of  the  “Fit  for  55”  package  (European  Commission,  2022e)  of  EU  legislative 
measures, in October 2023 the Council adopted the new Renewables Energy Directive (RED) to raise the share 
of  renewable  energy  in  the  EU’s  overall  energy  consumption  to  42.5  %  by  2030  with  an  additional  2.5  % 
indicative top up to allow the target of 45 % to be achieved (European Council, 2023). 

Furthermore,  the  recently  proposed  Net-Zero  Industry  Act  aims  to  set  the  required  environment  to  scale  up 
manufacturing  of  net-zero  industry  in  the  EU.  One  of  the  identified  strategic  net-zero  technologies is PV.  A 
simplification  of  the  regulatory  framework  (permitting)  for  the  PV  manufacturing  and  a  skills  development 
support are among the actions included in the Act that will help increase the EU PV competitiveness. The target 
is set so that by 2030, manufacturing capacity of the strategic net-zero technologies (as defined in the NZIA) 
in the EU approaches or reaches a benchmark of at least 40 % of the EU’s annual deployment needs for the 
corresponding technologies necessary to achieve the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets and holds a 15 % 
EU share of global production by 2040 (European Commission, 2023b)(Council of the EU, 2024). In addition, 
the European Commission endorsed the creation of the European Solar PV Industry Alliance (ESIA) (European 
Commission, 2023d) that will support the above-mentioned objectives and policies that will result in scaling-up 
and speeding-up the production of renewable energy in Europe with the aim of regaining its independence from 
Russian fossil fuels, and making its energy system more resilient. The ESIA aims to expand EU’s manufacturing 
to at least 30 GWp across the full supply chain by 2030 (European Commission, 2023b, 2023d). Furthermore, 
in an attempt to support the EU photovoltaic sector, the European Solar Charter was signed in April 2024. The 
European Solar Charter sets out immediate actions to be taken by the Commission, EU Member States and the 
representatives of the solar PV value chain, in particular wholesale, distribution and manufacturing parts, to be 
implemented  ensuring  full  compliance  with  EU  competition  law  and  state  aid  rules  (European  Commission, 
2024b). 

Despite  the  moderate  increase  of  13  %  in  PV  investments  compared  to  2022,  the  new  installed  capacity 
increased by more than two thirds to 422 GWp and exceeded 1.6 TWp (mainly from utility scale plants). This is 
almost towards the upper side between the conservative (360 GWp) and optimistic forecasts (448 GWp) (Jäger-

9 

Waldau,  2024).  Market  forecasts  for  2024  vary  from  a  shrinking  market  to  a  significant  increase  to  over 
550 GWp, which would bring the total cumulative installed PV capacity to over 2 TWp (Jäger-Waldau, 2024). 

The EU photovoltaic market grew again by over a third to more than 56 GWp in 2023 and could reach 100 GWp 
per annum in 2030 if the current market trend continues. With this trend, EU Solar Energy Strategy’s target of 
achieving a nominal capacity of over 720 GWp (600 GWAC) by 2030 will be exceeded (Jäger-Waldau, 2024). 

1.2  Methodology and Data Sources 

The present report follows the general structure of all CETO technology reports and is divided into three sections 
with several indicators aiming to present and evaluate the EU PV technology along its value chain: 

Technology State of the art and future developments and trends; 

• 
•  Value chain analysis; 
• 

EU position and global competitiveness. 

The technology state-of-the-art and future developments and trends section builds on the: 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

PV technology readiness level; 
Installed capacity and electricity production; 
Technology costs; 
Public and private R&I funding; 
Patenting trends; 
Scientific publication trends; 
Impact of EU R&I. 

The value chain analysis maps the situation of the PV technology with regard to the: 

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 

Turnover; 
Gross Value Added; 
Environmental and socio-economic sustainability; 
EU companies; 
Employment; 
Energy intensity and labour productivity; 
EU production. 

The EU position and global competitiveness analyses the EU position in the global market according to the: 

- 
- 
- 

Global and EU market leaders; 
Trade, imports and exports; 
Resources efficiency and dependence. 

The report uses the following information sources: 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Existing studies and reviews published by the European Commission and international organisations; 
Information from EU-funded research projects; 
EU and international databases; 
EU trade data, trade reports, market research reports and others; 
JRC own review and data compilation; 
Stakeholders’ input. 

Details of specific sources can be found in the corresponding sections and Annex 1 provides a summary of the 
indicators for each aspect, together with the main data sources.  

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2  Technology status and development trends  

2.1  Technology readiness level 

The global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of PV installations was 28 % in the period 2013 to 2023. In 
2023, overall investments in renewable energy have increased by 8  % to  USD  623 billion (Bloomberg New 
Energy Finance, 2024c). In the same year, investments in photovoltaics reached USD 385.5 billion (increase of 
13 % compared to 2022) or 62 % of the renewable energy investments. 

New  PV  capacity  increased  by  36  %  to  over  422  GWp  in  2022,  which  is  at  the  upper  side  between  the 
conservative  (360 GWp) and optimistic forecasts (448  GWp) (WoodMackenzie, 2023; Bloomberg New Energy 
Finance, 2024a). For 2024, market forecasts vary considerably from a shrinking market to a significant increase 
that  may  enable  a  cumulative  installed  capacity  of  over  2  TWp  (Jäger-Waldau,  2024).  SolarPower  Europe 
projects between 3 % (461 GWp) and 45 % (647 GWp) annual growth for 2024 (SolarPower Europe, 2024b). 

In 2023, China had a cumulative installed capacity of more than 670 GWp, representing 42 % of the total global 
1 607 GWp installed PV  capacity. The European Union follows with about 18  % or 271 GWp and the  United 
States with 175 GWp (12 %) (Figure 1). At the end of 2022, 29 countries globally and 14 in the EU installed 
more than 1 GWp (IEA PVPS, 2024a). 

Figure 1. Global cumulative photovoltaic installations for the period 2010-2023. 

Source: (Jäger-Waldau, 2024) 

The EU is a leading installer of PV per capita with  601 Wp/capita on average (from 475 Wp/capita in 2022), 
having seven EU Member States in the first 10 countries in this ranking (SolarPower Europe, 2023d, 2023a; 
Jäger-Waldau, 2024). In 2023, Australia was surpassed by Netherlands that had the highest capacity per capita 
(1 371Wp/capita). Australia and Denmark followed with 1 343 Wp/capita and 979 Wp/capita respectively, leaving 
Germany  in  the  fourth  position  with  967  Wp/capita  (Jäger-Waldau,  2024).  The  world  average  in  2023  was 
201 Wp/capita (from 148 Wp/capita in 2022).  

This  growth  is  due  to  the  decreasing  cost  of  the  PV  modules  and  systems  (EUR/Wp),  and  the  increasingly 
competitive cost of the electricity generated (in EUR/MWh). Analysing the global evolution of module price vs 
cumulative production, the Learning Curve suggests a price decrease of 24.4 % for each doubling of cumulative 
global module production in the last 43 years (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). In Germany, at the end of 2023 the price 
for a typical 10 to 100kWp PV rooftop system is only 10 % of the price in 1990 (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). 

2.1.1  Photovoltaic (PV) module technologies 

According  to  the  International  Technology  Roadmap for Photovoltaic  (ITRPV)  15th  edition  (VDMA,  2024), the 
yearly learning for module efficiency for the past 12 years is presented in Table 2. 

11 

 
 
Table 2. Yearly average module efficiencies for the period 2013-2023. 

Year 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

2018 

2019 

2020 

2021 

2022 

2023 

Aver. module 
efficiency [%] 

16.0 

16.3 

17.0 

17.5 

17.7 

18.4 

19.2 

20.0 

20.9 

21.2 

21.8 

Source: (VDMA, 2024) 

The above-mentioned module efficiencies, between 2010 and 2019, were calculated, based on average module 
powers of p-type polycrystalline (poly c-Si) and monocrystalline (mono c-Si) silicon modules reported by ITRPV 
(3rd to 11th edition) for a standardised module size of about 1.64m2 with 60 cells. After 2019 an average module 
area  of  1.7m2  is  considered.  Average  module  efficiencies  for  Passivated  Emitter  and  Rear  Contact  (PERC) 
modules in 2020 and 2021 are assumed to be 20 % based on the ITRPV 12th edition and 20.9 % respectively. 
For a better comprehension of the evolution of PV module efficiencies, the 1980 average PV module efficiency 
is reported to be 9 % (VDMA, 2024). 

Crystalline silicon 

The crystalline silicon technology accounts for 97 % of global PV module production (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024; 
Jäger-Waldau, 2024). Of these, monocrystalline (mono c-Si) modules almost monopolise the crystalline market 
as  polycrystalline  (poly  c-Si)  modules  have  reduced  their  market  share  considerably,  practically  almost 
disappearing from the market (VDMA, 2024). The record efficiency of c-Si cells is 26.1 % (ISFH, p-type TBC) 
(Green et al., 2024), whereas the efficiency of the modules is 24.9 % (Maxeon (112 cells)) (Green et al., 2024). 
The efficiency of average commercial wafer-based silicon modules increased from 16 % to over 22 % over the 
last 10 years (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). The silicon heterojunction (HJT) technology (crystalline silicon/amorphous 
silicon) has demonstrated a record cell efficiency of 26.8 % (LONGI, n-type HJT) (Green et al., 2024). 

The European Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda  for PV (SRIA)  (SNETP, 2022)  identifies that further 
R&D support in the EU in the field of silicon PV technology is needed and it should aim at the ultimate objective 
of  achieving  multi-GWp  of  silicon  cell  and  module  manufacturing  capability  with  low  carbon  footprint  and 
circularity  in  the  EU,  further  lowering  the  Levelized  Cost  of  Electricity  (LCoE)  of  both  utility-scale  PV  and 
integrated PV and maintaining and reinforcing EU’s leading position in silicon PV technology in terms of high 
performance  and  lower  costs,  while  at  the  same  time  achieving  sustainability  and  integration  in  the 
environment. 

Research  and innovation  regarding  performance,  integration  and  sustainability  are  still  essential  in  order  to 
reach large-scale deployment. This also includes high-efficiency silicon technology being used for multi-junction 
devices (efficiencies may reach 30 % for hybrid tandems and 40 % for multi-junctions1). 

The technology targets and research priorities for silicon PV modules as they were identified in SRIA  (SNETP, 
2022) are presented in Figure 2. 

Figure 2. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon PV 
modules. 

Source: (SNETP, 2022)  

1 Tandem devices consist of two junctions whereas multi-junction devices consist of more than two (i.e. multiple) junctions. 

12 

TRL20212022202320242025202620272028202920302-3Nanophotonic structures to allow thinner cellsBoost efficiency by advanced technologies (up/down conversion, direct bandgap films, …)7-8Pilot lines for advanced ingot pulling and for epi wafersEstablish European pilot lines for advanced homo and hetero cell/module3-5Low-cost crystal pulling of ingots for G12 and beyondModule development (3D, aesthetics, circularity, …)5-7Process/equipment for epi wafers/alternativesSustainable module technology for higher performance: Pb-free, F-free, longer lifetimes, … 
 
 
Thin-film 

The thin-film share of global production is only 3 % corresponding to approx. 15 GWp of the total PV module 
global  production.  The  vast  majority  of  these  are  CdTe  and  only  a  minor  part  CIGS  and  amorphous  silicon 
(Fraunhofer  ISE,  2024).  The  record  cell  efficiencies  of  CdTe  and  CIGS  are  22.6  %  (First  Solar)  and  23.6  % 
(Evolar/Uppsala) respectively and for the modules, CdTe modules exhibit an efficiency of 19.9 % (First Solar) 
and CIGS 19.2 % (Solar Frontier (70 cells)) (Green et al., 2024). The CdTe module efficiency has increased from 
9 % to 20 % in the last 10 years (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). 

As far as the CIGS technology is concerned, there are only a few European producers (mostly branches of Asian 
companies), whereas CdTe modules are produced only by First Solar in the  United States. The efficiencies of 
commercial CIGS and CdTe modules need to increase and reach those reached in the laboratory. Only this way 
can they compete with crystalline silicon modules. The way forward for these two thin-film technologies is mass 
production in order to benefit from scaling effects, but a remaining issue is the supply of critical materials for 
their production (indium, tellurium, etc.). 

The  technology  targets  and  research  priorities for  the  thin-film PV  modules as they  were  identified  in  SRIA 
(SNETP, 2022) are presented in Figure 3. 

Figure 3. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the thin-film PV modules. 

Perovskites 

Source: (SNETP, 2022) 

Perovskites (Pks)  are  currently  a  very  promising  thin-film technology  and for  this reason,  justify  a  separate 
treatment  within  this report.  Perovskites’  power  conversion  efficiency  in  a  single-junction  cell  has increased 
from 3.8 % at their discovery in 2009 to an impressive 25.2 ± 0.8 % (NUS/SERIS) in 2024 whereas the perovskite 
module record efficiency is 19.2 % (SolaEon) (Green et al., 2024). It is expected that module efficiencies will be 
comparable to current existing PV technologies within the next 5 years. 

The EU has strong expertise in perovskite PV modules. At the moment, several companies are starting pilot lines 
of production with plans to proceed to production at large scale. In the EU, the announcements towards the 
production of perovskites at commercial scale include Evolar2 (Sweden) which plans to scale its processes in its 
prototype line in Sweden and bring its technology to the market in the short-term. Holosolis (France) plans to 
build  a  state-of-the-art  module  gigafactory  in  France  and  production  is  expected  to  start  in  2025.  Saule 
Technologies (Poland) is also  working on a large-scale, prototype production line while Voltec Solar (France) 
plans to have a first 200 MW production in 2025, increasing to 1 GW in 2027 and 5 GW by 2030 (Perovskite-
info, 2023c). 

Other European players in the field of perovskites are Aerosolar (United Kingdom), Enel Green Power (Italy), 
Power Roll  (United  Kingdom),  Solertix  (Italy)  and Solliance  (Netherlands).  Oxford  PV  (United  Kingdom)  has a 
research and development site as well as a pilot and production line in Germany and aims to accelerate its 
technology into industrial-scale perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell manufacturing. Perovskia (Switzerland) 
wants  to  also  commercialise  perovskite  solar  cell  technology.  In  January  2024,  Perovskia  announced  its 
intention to set up a factory for solar cell manufacturing (Perovskite-info, 2023c). 

As  far  as  the  global  competitors  in  perovskite  technology  are  concerned,  in  China  there  have  been  several 
announcements of companies planning to commercialise perovskite technology in the next few years. Some of 
these companies are: Hiking PV, Huasun Energy, Mellow Energy / Vein Energy, Microquanta Semiconductor, Wuxi 
Utmost Light Technology (UtmoLight), Xi'an Tianjiao New Energy, Phenosolar and RenShine Solar. In the United 

2 Acquired by First Solar (United States) in May 2023. 

13 

TRL20212022202320242025202620272028202920302-33-5Screening of novel TF-absorber materials for single- and multi-junctionsDevelopment of TF for specific integrated PV applicationsModule design for improved sustainability5-77-8Large-area module production with reduced lab-to-fab lossesProduction processes for "Mass Customisation" for integrated PV applicationsNext generation production equipment for larger size modulesPilot lines for "Mass Customisation" 
 
 
States,  Caelux,  Energy  America  and  Halldata  Solar  are  proceeding  to  commercialisation  of  perovskites 
(Perovskite-info, 2023c). 

Depending on the learning curve, perovskite module manufacturing could quickly achieve costs comparable to 
current  commercial  technologies.  The  industry  anticipates  that  perovskites  will  become  a  low-cost,  highly 
efficient and stable technology that may incorporate different characteristics (level of flexibility, transparency, 
etc.). This way, perovskites could become an ideal technology for many different photovoltaic applications in 
infrastructure, buildings, vehicles, etc.  

The technology targets and research priorities for the perovskite PV modules as they were identified in SRIA 
(SNETP, 2022) are presented in Figure 4. 

Figure 4. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the perovskite PV modules. 

Multi-junction 

Source: (SNETP, 2022) 

The multi-junction technology consists in incorporating multiple p-n junctions made of different semiconductor 
materials  within  the  same  cell.  This  technology  allows  reaching  the  highest  efficiency  levels  among  all 
technologies. The silicon-based tandems with III-V top material are the most efficient technology, with a record 
efficiency  of  38.8  %  for  a  5  junction  cell  (NREL,  Spectrolab,  2-terminal,  (2.17/1.68/1.40/1.06/.73  eV))  and 
32.65 ± 0.7 % for a module (Sharp, 40 cells; 8 series, InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs) (Green et al., 2024). 

In particular, perovskite-silicon tandem devices reach high efficiencies and benefit from lower manufacturing 
costs as well. The perovskite/silicon tandem cell design has a record efficiency of 34.6 % (LONGI, 2-terminal) 
(PV  Magazine,  2024a),  while  the  record  efficiency  for  modules  is  25.8  %  (LONGI,  4-terminal)  (Green  et  al., 
2024). 

According to SRIA, Si based tandem technologies should reach a market share of approx. 5 % in 2028 while 
successfully  transitioning  from  niche  to  mass  market  applications  by  2034  (VDMA,  2024).  The  technology 
targets and research priorities for multi-junction PV modules as they were identified in SRIA (SNETP, 2022) are 
presented in Figure 5. 

Figure 5. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the multi-junction PV modules. 

Source: (SNETP, 2022) 

Bifacial modules3 represent another field of technological advances. Even though they have been in the market 
for  many  years  now,  they  have  recently  attracted  increased  interest.  They  are  used  for  ground-mounted 
applications  with  or  without  a  tracker  but  can  also  be  vertically  mounted.  Silicon  heterojunctions  (HJT)  and 
Tunnel  Oxide  Passivated  Contact  (TOPCon)  modules  can  reach  considerably  higher  bifaciality4  than  p-type 
Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC). Bifacial technology is expected to increase its market share from 
63 % today to over 70 % in the next ten years (VDMA, 2024). Rear contact of modules represent another major 
advance  (Wilson  et  al.,  2020).  With  PERC  modules  being  near  their  upper-efficiency  limit  (currently  21.6 % 
efficiency with projections reaching 22 % in 2034), the industry is investing in n-type technology with major 

3 Bifacial modules are PV modules that can produce electrical energy when illuminated on both its sides (front and rear). 
4 Bifaciality refers to the ratio of rear efficiency in relation to the front efficiency subject to the same irradiance. 

14 

TRL2021202220232024202620272028202920303-55-77-82025Demonstrate at pilot level Pk modules on glass and on foils for various applicationsEstablish EU pilot lines for Pk modules on glass and on foils2-3Pb-free TF PV absorbersRecycling strategies for PkLow-cost highly performant transparent electrodesModule manufacturingTRL20212022202320242025202620272028202920302-37-8Establish European pilot lines for various tandem technologies and applications5-7High-throughput processing up to module levelBifacial multijunction devices3-5Stable high-quality recombination layers and charge-selective layersImproved module concepts for 3T and 4T 
 
 
 
manufacturers switching to TOPCon (currently 22.8 % efficiency with projections reaching 24 % in 2034) and 
HJT technologies (currently 23 % efficiency with projections reaching 24.3 % in 2034) (VDMA, 2024). Silicon 
based tandem cells and modules (with efficiencies over 27 %) will start mass production after 2027 and their 
expected  efficiency  will  reach  30  %  in  2034  (VDMA,  2024).  The  n-type  TOPCon  manufacturing  capacity 
increased considerably in past few years, becoming already dominant in 2024 with projections suggesting a 
market share of 45-55 % by 2034 (VDMA, 2024). HJT technology (current market share of 7 %) will increase 
its market share to 20 % in 2034. Silicon based tandem will uptake between 10 % and 20 % of market share 
by 2034 and back contact (p and n-type) will represent 15-20 % of the market (VDMA, 2024). PERC technology 
with a market share of 65-70 % in 2023, will lose its dominance already in 2024 and is expected to eventually 
disappear from the market between 2023 and 2032 (VDMA, 2024). 

Lifetime and reliability of PV modules needs to be guaranteed. These aspects are especially crucial for highly 
promising new technologies like perovskites-based PV that offer great opportunities. In order to understand the 
performance and reliability of these new materials, testing procedures and standards have to be adjusted to 
new module technologies or reflect new degradation modes (SNETP, 2022). 

2.1.2  Established and emerging innovative PV deployment applications 

In March and May 2022, the European Commission published the REPowerEU Communication and the EU Solar 
Strategy  Communication  respectively  (European  Commission,  2022b,  2022a).  As  part  of  the  REPowerEU 
package (aiming for a reduction of net emissions by at least 55 % by 2030), the EU Solar Strategy called for 
an additional photovoltaic capacity of over 500 GWp between 2021 and 2030, which would mean a roughly 
fourfold increase of the nominal capacity to over 720 GWp by 2030. To achieve the above-mentioned target, 
extended  deployment  will  be  needed  and  the  European  Commission  has  identified  innovative  forms  of  PV 
deployment that can contribute to the mitigation of land constraints linked to competition for space. These are 
agrivoltaics, floating photovoltaics, infrastructure integrated photovoltaics and vehicle integrated photovoltaics. 
The European Commission has also committed to  provide guidelines to the  Member States regarding these 
innovative  forms  of  PV  deployment.  The  innovative  forms  mentioned  above,  together  with  the  well-known 
application of building integrated photovoltaics are alternative solutions for PV deployment that minimise land 
competition. 

In  2023,  building  integrated  photovoltaics,  floating  photovoltaics  and  agrivoltaics  accounted  for  only  5  % 
globally. The 2024 International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic projects a notable increase of market 
share to 20 % for these applications in 2034. More in particular, building integrated photovoltaics and floating 
photovoltaics will reach a 5 % applications market share each and agrivoltaics a 10 % market share (VDMA, 
2024).  

Agrivoltaics 

Agrivoltaics consists in the simultaneous use of areas of land for both solar photovoltaic power generation and 
agriculture. Agrivoltaics interacts with a range of policies related to clean energy, energy transition, sustainable 
agriculture, food security, biodiversity, rural development and research & innovation, all of which underpin the 
goals of the European Green Deal (EGD) (Chatzipanagi, Taylor, et al., 2022). 

The potential of agrivoltaics in the EU is significant. A coverage of only 1 % of Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) 
with  agrivoltaic  systems  translates  into  roughly  944  GWp  (assuming  an  installed  capacity  per  land  area  of 
0.6 MWp/ha),  which  is  half  of  the  amount  that  can  be  achieved  by  traditional  ground-mounted  PV  systems 
(around 1 809 GWp). The potential 944 GWp of agrivoltaic systems are approximately 5 times more than the EU 
installed capacity in 2022 and the electricity generated would cover roughly 40 % of the EU’s total electricity 
consumption in 2022. 

One of the main challenges for agrivoltaics is related to the absence of a clear and EU-harmonised definition, 
which could lead to land characterisation changes when agrivoltaics systems are installed on agricultural land. 
This change could have an impact on the eligibility to agricultural subsidies. In fact, in several cases, the land is 
excluded  from  the  Common  Agricultural  Policy  subsidies.  Many  Member  States  are  general  in  their  plans 
regarding the support for investments in renewable energy. Support for agrivoltaics is not directly mentioned in 
most of the Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans and only a few have included it explicitly in their plans (without 
defining  specific  targets  and/or  providing  dedicated  financial  support).  Technical  challenges  as  well  as 
challenges regarding the permitting and grid connection procedures have also been identified. In addition, there 
has been an increase in land prices impacting the welfare and security of the farmers. Finally, regardless of the 
technological advancements, there are still technical challenges that need to be addressed in order to maximise 

15 

 
the electricity production while taking into consideration the biodiversity and without compromising significantly 
the crop yield. The economic benefit and the security of property as well as investments for the farmer must 
be at the centre of the efforts to promote  agrivoltaics and public awareness and acceptance  (Chatzipanagi, 
Taylor and Jaeger-Waldau, 2023). 

Agrivoltaic  applications  stand  between  TRL  3  and  8,  depending  on  the  agricultural  context.  Further  studies 
regarding  the  crop  suitability  identification  and  implementation  of  water  management  optimisation  will 
substantially contribute to the application’s development (SNETP, 2022). 

Building integrated photovoltaics 

Building integrated photovoltaics is a known and well established PV application for many years now. It consists 
in the replacement of conventional building materials with materials incorporating PV technologies  so as to 
have  a  double  function,  acting  like  an  energy  producing  building  component.  The  generated  electricity  is 
consumed close to where it is produced, thus excluding potential grid investments.  

According to a recent study, when considering a building skin to building net surface area ratio of 0.78 and a 
building skin glazing ratio of 30 %, buildings could cover their electricity consumption using building integrated 
photovoltaics systems by 2030 in the EU (Gholami, Nils Røstvik and Steemers, 2021). There are 4 key initiatives 
to tackle barriers for building integrated photovoltaics. These are through the review of the Renewable Energy 
Directive II (RED II) (European Commission, 2018a) and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 
(European  Commission,  2018b),  the  launch  of  the  New  European  Bauhaus initiative  (European  Commission, 
2020b)  and  last  but  not  least,  the  revision  of  the  Construction  Products  Regulation  (European  Commission, 
2022g). 

Building integrated photovoltaics applications are characterised by high TRLs.  The challenge for the building 
integrated photovoltaics sector lays in the lack of solutions of scale, the research regarding the technological 
aspects for the multi-functionality of building integrated photovoltaics products and the absence of regulation 
harmonisation between PV and building regulations. The full upscaling of the building integrated photovoltaics 
market requires actions related to PV module and Balance of System (BoS) technology development, business 
models,  design  and  energy  integration  (TRL  4-8)  as  well  as  clarity  regarding  PV  in  building  regulations  at 
regional, national  and EU  level  in  order to  avoid  fragmentation  (TRL 8-9)  (SNETP, 2022).  As  far as  building 
integrated photovoltaics product manufacturing is concerned, flexibility and automation will contribute to more 
cost competitive applications with significantly reduced Pay Back Times (PBT). 

Floating photovoltaics 

Floating photovoltaics consists in the deployment of PV modules on water surfaces. The most common surfaces 
envisaged for this application are man-made water surfaces such as irrigation dams, industrial basins, water 
treatment plants or hydropower reservoirs.  Floating photovoltaics has also been deployed on natural waters 
like lakes and offshore sea locations (mostly at low wave categories). This PV application takes advantage of 
the cooling effect coming from the water beneath the PV modules and the easy installation while contributing 
to water evaporation and algae growth reduction. The current installed capacity in Europe is close to 0.5 GWp, 
while global installations have reached 2 GWp. 

When coupled with hydropower (or installed on dam surfaces) or wind energy, floating photovoltaics can exploit 
the already established grid connection in addition to the multiple benefits mentioned before. The coverage of 
only 10 % of the EU’s reservoir (i.e. man-made) area can generate close 140 TWh per year, which corresponds 
to approx. 7 % of the EU’s total electricity consumption in 2022 (Kakoulaki, Gonzalez Sanchez, et al., 2023). 

The challenges floating photovoltaics are facing are mostly technological and related to the optimisation of the 
system  design  for  low  wave  categories  (TRL  6-8  for  wave  categories  1-2),  the  feasibility  of  floating 
photovoltaics systems for high wave categories (TRL 3-4 for wave category 3-4) and lifetime and reliability 
aspects (SNETP, 2022). As for agrivoltaics, taking into consideration the environment, biodiversity and water 
preservation policies is of major importance. 

Infrastructure integrated photovoltaics 

Infrastructure integrated photovoltaics is the integration of PV in elements of infrastructure like noise or crash 
barriers in roads and highways, road pavements,  dikes, landfills, flyovers, road roofing and parking lots. The 
infrastructure element in these applications, in addition to its main functionality (like noise or crash protection), 
incorporates  PV  modules  for  the  simultaneous  generation  of  electricity.  The  most  common  infrastructure 
applications are on noise barriers and landfills. 

16 

 
Research on PV on transport infrastructure (roads and railways) has shown that the potential installed capacity 
in the EU is 401 GWp, translated into 280 TWh – 391 TWh per year depending on the PV technology employed 
(monofacial vs. bifacial PV  modules). The above-mentioned electricity generations cover between 11 % and 
16 % of the EU’s total electricity consumption in 2022 (Kakoulaki, Fahl, et al., 2023). As far as closed landfills 
are  concerned,  the  potential  for  EU  can  reach  13  GWp  (Szabó  et  al.,  2017).  In  Netherlands,  the  potential 
installation capacity on dikes has been identified to be 11 GWp (TNO, 2023). 

Depending on the specific application, TRLs vary between 6-7 for landfills, road roofing and noise barriers to 4-
5  for  crash  barriers  and  dikes.  Infrastructure  integrated  photovoltaics  is set  to  ramp-up  when  the  designed 
integrated solutions become more mature in terms of performance and safety, as well as cost effective (SNETP, 
2022). 

Vehicle integrated photovoltaics 

The reduction of PV costs and higher penetration of EV are the main driving forces behind vehicle integrated 
photovoltaics developments. However, this application can have several variations depending on the (i) type of 
vehicles (light-duty, heavy-duty, camper, etc.), (ii) use of energy (for extended range, refrigeration, etc.), (iii) PV 
technology (Si, III-V, organic, etc.). 

Apart  from  the  above-mentioned  parameters,  also  the  climatic  conditions  play  a  significant  role  in  vehicle 
integrated  photovoltaics.  A  recent  publication  performed  on  a  commuter  car  and  a  light  delivery  van,  even 
though  it  does not  take  into  account  shading,  suggests that  the  average  annual  solar  range  (mileage)  of  a 
photovoltaic electric vehicle with 454 Wp vehicle integrated photovoltaics can amount between 12 % (worst 
climatic conditions for PV) and 35 % (best climatic conditions for PV). The respective range for a delivery van 
with 649 Wp vehicle integrated photovoltaics, is between 9 % and 23 % (considering a 51 % higher annual 
mileage versus the car driving pattern) (Thiel et al., 2022). 

Some of the challenges that vehicle integrated photovoltaics is facing are related to technological parameters 
like shading of the PV modules while the vehicle is moving, safety requirements, electro-magnetic compatibility 
and recyclability but also to manufacturing and demonstration of the application’s cost competitiveness and 
sustainability (SNETP, 2022). The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on Photovoltaics reports expected 
TRL between 6 and 8 by 2025. 

2.2 

Installed Capacity and Production 

Proper and straightforward comparisons are not possible as there are several factors (IEA PVPS, 2024a; Jäger-
Waldau, 2024) impacting these statistics (Box 1). 

As  depicted  in  Figure  6,  the  global  cumulative  solar  electricity  production  (mainly  from  PV)  increased  from 
132 TWh in 2013 to 1 630 TWh in 2023 (Wiatros-Motyka et al., 2024), presenting a compound annual growth 
rate (CAGR) of 29 %. The EU generated approximately 79 TWh from PV in 2013, corresponding to a share of 
60 % of the global PV electricity production. 

Figure 6. Global and EU cumulative PV electricity production with EU share for the period 2013-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on Eurostat, IRENA and Ember 

17 

 
 
 
From  2013  to  2023,  the  EU’s  share  decreased  gradually  to  14 %  of  the  global  cumulative  PV  electricity 
production, with a cumulative EU PV electricity production of 229 TWh in 2023 (provisional data). China, on the 
other hand, increased its share in global PV electricity production from 6 % in 2013 (8.4 TWh) to 36 % (584 TWh) 
in 2023. 

Three-quarters of the EU’s cumulative PV electricity in 2023 was produced in only five of the twenty-seven 
countries. These are Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands (Figure 7). The same countries, in 2013 
produced 84 % of the EU’s cumulative PV electricity. The countries with the highest CAGR between 2013 and 
2023 are Poland and Hungary. The Member State (MS) and world countries coding can be found in Annex 2. 

The share of solar electricity generation in the EU’s electricity mix increased from 2.9 % in 2013 to 9.2 % in 
2023. The respective percentage for the world increased from 0.6 % to 5.4 % (EMBER, 2024b). The EU country 
with the highest share of solar electricity generation is Luxembourg (24.5 % in 2023), whereas the countries 
with  the  highest  increase  of  solar  electricity  generation  between  2020  and  2023  are  Ireland,  Poland  and 
Lithuania. 

Figure 7. EU PV cumulative electricity generation per country for the period 2013-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on Eurostat 

Regarding the cumulative PV installed capacity5, the EU had installed 82 GWp in 2013, which grew to 271 GWp 
in 2023, while globally 141 GWp and 1 607 GWp had been installed in these respective years (IEA PVPS, 2024b). 
The vast majority of the installed PV capacity (99.6 %) is connected to the grid (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). The EU’s 
share in global PV installed capacity decreased from 58 % in 2013 to 17 % in 2023 (Figure 8). China increased 
its share from only 13 % in 2013 to 42 % in 2023. EU’s and China’s CAGR between 2013 and 2023 are 12 % 
and 28 % respectively. In 2023, approx. 45 % of new capacity installation globally was on rooftops (IEA PVPS, 
2024a). The estimated PV installed capacity in 2023 is 1 600 GWp (Jäger-Waldau, 2024). 

Figure 8. Cumulative global and EU PV installed capacity with EU and China shares for the period 2013-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (IEA PVPS, 2024a, 2024b; Jäger-Waldau, 2024) 

5 Refers to the current actual operational installed capacity, without considering decommissioning. In the future, as decommissioning of PV 

plants will grow, a distinction will be necessary when referring to cumulative capacity. 

18 

 
 
 
 
Box 1. Uncertainty in reported capacity numbers. 

•  Not all countries report standard nominal power capacity for solar PV systems (DC or W p under 

standard test conditions), but rather report the inverter or electrical connection capacity, which is 
in AC. Over the last decade the so called “overpowering”, i.e. when the DC capacity is larger than 
the AC capacity, has increased from 1.1 to almost 2. In 2022 constructed larger PV plants have a 
DC/AC ratio of 1.1 to 1.6, which means that the nominal capacity can be 10 to 60 % higher than 
the reported AC capacity. Overpowering of PV systems leads to a longer utilisation of the full 
connection capacity and can be cheaper than the installation of electricity stabilisers to maintain 
steady supply at the required power. 

Looking  at  energy  scenarios,  energy  modellers  are  only  interested  in  AC  capacity,  since  the 
electricity network is AC. Therefore, significant differences can exist in the actual needed nominal 
power of PV systems, which determines the number of modules needed, and the modelled network 
capacity. 

The reported capacity numbers of PV installations in this chapter are given in nominal DC power or 
Wp.  Where  national  statistics  report  capacities  in  AC,  a  conversion  factor  based  on  industry 
information and project descriptions is used. 

In 2022, China changed its national reporting system from nominal capacity to AC capacity. This 
created  some  difficulties  to  convert  the  reported  capacity  of  51  GWAC  residential/commercial 
systems and 36.1 GWAC large scale  systems to  GWp. Under the assumption that  residential and 
commercial  systems  have  no  overpowered  capacity,  this would  give  a  value  of  51  GW p  for  the 
residential/commercial systems. Under the assumption of an average overpowering ratio of 1.3 (an 
average between lower and higher overpowering) results in 47 GWp for large scale systems. The 
total then is 98 GWp. 

• 

Some statistics only count the capacity which is actually connected or commissioned in the 
respective year for the annual statistics, irrespective of when it was actually installed. This can 
lead to short term differences in which year the installations are counted. This can lead to 
differences in the annual statistics, but levels out in the long-run, if no double counting occurs. 
E.g.: 

- 

- 

In Italy about 3.5 GWp of solar PV systems were reported under the 2nd conto energia 
and installed in 2010, but only connected in 2011. 
The construction period of some large solar farms spread over two or more years. 
Depending on the regulations – whether or not the installation can be connected to the 
grid in phases and whether or not it can be commissioned in phases, the capacity count 
is different. 

• 

Some countries don't have official statistics on the capacity of solar PV system installations or 
sales statistics of the relevant components. 

Figure 9 shows the evolution of the EU’s cumulative PV installed capacity from 2013 until 2023 per country. 
The countries contributing less to the EU installed capacity are shown as rest of EU. Germany, Spain, Italy, the 
Netherlands and France installed 71 % of the total EU installed capacity in 2023 from 84 % in 2013. Germany 
was the country with the highest installation in 2013, accounting for almost half of the EU’s PV installation. In 
2023, Germany accounted for 30 %. Also Italy’s share decrease from 23 % in 2013 to 11 % in 2023 as more 
EU countries have entered the PV installations market in the recent years. 

In 2023, rooftop PV installations accounted for two-thirds of the EU’s total systems, leaving the remaining 35 % 
for utility-scale PV (IEA PVPS, 2024b). According to SolarPower Europe (SPE), in 2027 rooftop applications will 
decrease to 56 % and utility-scale will increase to 44 % (SolarPower Europe, 2023a). At global level, in 2023 
rooftop accounted for 41-45 % of the installed capacity whereas utility-scale PV for the remaining 55-59 % 
depending on the source of information (IEA PVPS, 2024b; SolarPower Europe, 2024b). For 2028, it is projected 
that rooftop and utility system shares will be 41 % and 59 % respectively (SolarPower Europe, 2024b). 

According  to  SPE’s  low  and  high  scenarios,  the  cumulative  PV  installed  capacity  in  the  EU  in  2027  will  be 
between 471 GWp and 702 GWp , with a medium projection of 576 GWp (SolarPower Europe, 2023a). In 2030 
according  to  the  medium  scenario  (which  is  also  the  most  probable  to  occur),  the  PV  capacity  could  reach 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
890 GWp, well over the target set in REPowerEU (SolarPower Europe, 2024b). BloombergNEF in its short-term 
solar forecast projects around 380 GWp by 2025 and between 650 and 765 GWp by 2030 (Bloomberg New 
Energy Finance, 2024d). Others project an installed capacity of 625 GWAC by 2030 (EurObserv’ER, 2024b). More 
ambitious  projections  for  2050  report  7-8.8  TWp  of  PV  installed  capacity  and  10-12  TWh  of  PV  electricity 
production (Manish et al., 2020). 

Figure 9. EU PV cumulative installed capacity per country for the period 2013-2023. 

Projections until 2030 

Source: JRC analysis based on (IEA PVPS, 2024a, 2024b) 

For the global PV installed capacity, the IEA foresees 2.4 TWp for 2025 for the main case scenario and 2.5 TWp 
for the accelerated scenario (IEA, 2024b). SPE projects 2.8 TWp to be installed globally in 2025  (SolarPower 
Europe, 2024b). For 2028, the IEA projects between 3.8 TWp and 4.3 TWp (main case and accelerated scenario) 
(IEA,  2024b),  while  SPE  is  more  optimistic  with  5.1  TWp  and  almost  6  TWp  (SolarPower  Europe,  2024b). 
BloombergNEF’s projections for global PV installations suggest a more rapid growth of 2.9 TWp already in 2025, 
arriving to 6.8 TWp in 2030 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024d). 

Projections until 2050 

The long-term projections for global installed PV capacity by 2050 differ substantially. Projections of installed 
PV  capacity  by  2050  can  reach  9 TWp,  20 TWp  and  62 TWp,  for  a  slow,  base  and  fast  growth  scenario, 
respectively (Vartiainen et al., 2020). 

Discrepancies within long-term projections are not surprisingly as differences in scenario setting may have large 
impacts.  Differences in  scenario settings may refer to  scenario objectives (e.g.  global temperature increase, 
climate  neutrality  until  a  certain  year), techno-economic  assumptions  (e.g.  costs,  learning  rates), exogenous 
drivers (e.g. expected economic growth) and modelling methodologies. 

JRC projections 
The here presented JRC projections for EU and global PV installed capacity and electricity generation are based 
on scenarios specifically modelled for CETO 2024 using the models POTEnCIA (for the EU) and POLES-JRC (for 
the world). Annex 3 includes more information on the energy system models and their respective CETO 2024 
scenarios. 

As far as the EU is concerned (Figure 10), the POTEnCIA model is in accordance with BloombergNEF and SPE 
for the 2025 and 2030 projections with 400 GWp and 765 GWp of installed PV capacity respectively. For the 
long-term projections, the model projects a capacity of 2.2 TWp, where it would represent over 55% of total 
installed gross electric power capacity. In parallel, PV electricity production increases to 700 TWh by 2030, and 
to over 2000 TWh by 2050, equivalent to 33% of the total electricity generation. Thus, the projections further 
underline the growing importance of PV power for the near- to long-term EU electricity market. 

Global projections until 2050 are shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12 based on the Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 
calculated with the POLES-JRC model. Figure 11 presents global PV capacities of the power system along with 
average  investment  costs  for both  small/residential  and  utility-scale  installations  projects, and  PV  modules. 
Figure 12 illustrates global electricity generation with PV until 2050 in absolute terms and as share of total 
electricity generation. 

20 

 
 
Figure 10. Projections of gross installed capacity and electricity generation in the EU. 

Source: POTEnCIA CETO 2024 Scenario 

The  projected  global  installed  PV  capacity  of  the  power  system,  as  outlined  in  the  Global  CETO  2°C 
scenario 2024, is 2.3 TWp. This is consistent with projections of SPE, IEA and BloombergNEF for 2025, ranging 
between 2.4 TWp (IEA) and 2.9 TWp (BloombergNEF). However, the Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 projects less 
dynamic growth for the near future compared to other studies. For instance, the Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 
projects for 2028 global PV capacities of 3.5 TWp which is at the lower end of the projections of IEA and SPE 
(3.8-6 TWp).  

Figure 11. Global average overnight investment cost and installed PV capacity of the power system for small/residential 
and utility-scale. 

Figure 12. Gross electricity production for small/residential and utility-scale and share of gross electricity production. 

Source: JRC POLES-JRC model 

Source: JRC POLES-JRC model 

21 

 
 
 
 
By  2050,  the  Global  CETO  2°C  scenario  2024  projects  a  global  PV  capacity  of  in  total  15.2 TWp  which  is 
composed  of  13.5  TWp  PV  capacity  of  the  power  system  (shown  in  Figure  11)  and  1.7 TWp  of  PV  capacity 
dedicated to the production of hydrogen and direct air capture (not shown in Figure 11) Notably, this long-term 
projection is at the lower end of the previously mentioned studies (Vartiainen et al., 2020). 

However,  the  dynamics  of  the  PV  sector  are  not  entirely  captured  by  the  above  projections.  According  to 
Bloomberg, this year, the installation at global level will grow and the projected installed capacity in 2030 will 
exceed 6.5 TWp. 

2.3  Technology Costs  

Over the years, the reduction of solar PV systems cost has been remarkable. Between 2013 and 2023, the cost 
of residential, commercial rooftop and utility-scale PV systems decreased by 50 %, 66 % and 70 % respectively 
(Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024b). This is due to significant technology improvements made possible by 
the intense R&D efforts of the past decades combined with the industrialisation of the manufacturing process 
and massive expansion of the market. These developments were fostered by the introduction of public support 
schemes  like  feed-in  tariffs  or  minimum  targets  for  renewable  electricity  generation,  combined  with  the 
introduction of relevant regulatory frameworks to enable the integration of renewable energy sources in the 
electricity system (IRENA, 2020a). The above-mentioned  measures promoted PV awareness and acceptance 
thus acting as indirect influencing parameters that increased PV deployment hence also the demand for PV 
production. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  technological  progress and  industrial  learning  are  the  two  key  ingredients for  a 
further decrease in PV investment costs as well as operation and maintenance costs. However, this can only be 
ensured  with  steady  and  predictable  R&D  funding,  both  from  the  public  and  the  private  sector.  Increased 
attention should be paid to the soft costs, including regulatory, planning and permitting costs, which in the past 
have not followed the same radical decrease as other technology-related factors. 

CAPEX 

The capital investment in a photovoltaic system can be divided into three components: the photovoltaic modules, 
the  Balance  of  System  (BoS)  (support  structure,  tracking  system,  cabling,  inverter,  etc.)  and  the  soft  costs 
(permitting, marketing, etc.). 

In 2022, the PV modules and the mounting /structural BoS (including labour and equipment) made up for 65 % 
of the total cost while the soft costs account for the remaining 36 %. (VDMA, 2023). Between 2022 and 2024, 
the benchmark global capital investment for utility-scale PV decreased by 20 %, mainly due to the lower module 
prices and lower raw material prices for aluminium and steel (IEA, 2024d). 

The reduction in PV module prices has been remarkable. In the past 43 years, there is a 24.4 % decrease in 
module prices following each doubling of cumulative PV module production (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). In December 
2023, the average cost of c-Si modules sold in Europe was 93 % lower compared to 2009 (IRENA, 2024), while 
the global cumulative installed capacity grew 35-fold between 2010 and 2023, reaching 1.6 TWp. Figure 13 
presents the different cost attributions to the overall module price over the period 2018-2022. The bottom line 
of  the  figure  represents  the  absolute  spot  price,  while  the  stacked  representation  at  the  upper  right  corner 
presents the share of each attribution. 

The PV module price reduction is mainly due to the higher efficiencies achieved over years, i.e. less active area 
needed  for  the  same  wattage  production.  The  land  area  requirement  has  decreased  as  well  from 
2.7 hectares/megawatt  (MWAC)  in  2010  to  1.9 ha/MWAC  in  2020  (IRENA,  2020b).  Further  land  requirement 
reductions may be achieved with the application of bifacial modules that exploit both sides for the conversion 
of  light  into  electricity  in  applications  like  agrivoltaics,  floating  photovoltaics,  infrastructure  integrated 
photovoltaics  and  building  integrated  photovoltaics.  These  applications  enable  the  production  of  electricity 
without changing the land use and without competing with other activities such as agriculture in the case of 
agrivoltaics. 

As seen also in Figure 13, module prices are directly influenced by the polysilicon price as it is an essential raw 
material in the PV manufacturing sector. The increase of polysilicon price has influenced module prices as well. 
After  a  particularly  low  price  in  July  2020  (USD 6.8/kg),  polysilicon  shortage  in  2021  and  2022  caused 
significant price increases. The peak polysilicon price was met in December 2022 (USD 37/kg) and then prices 
started decreasing during 2023, reaching a USD 9/kg price in June 2023 (slightly higher than the January 2021 
price) (Bernreuter Research, 2023b). 

22 

 
Figure 13. Spot market price trends for poly-Si, mono-Si wafers, cells and modules between 2018 and 2022. 

Source: (VDMA, 2023) 

Accordingly, mainstream module prices have experienced a similar spot market price increase from EUR 0.22/Wp 
in July 2020 to EUR 0.35/Wp in October 2022 and ultimately a decrease to EUR 0.22/Wp in September 2023 
(PVxchange, 2023). Since then, polysilicon prices have dramatically decreased to USD 5.63/kg (May 2024) due 
to oversupply (several manufacturers increased their capacities and new players, attracted by the rising demand 
for PV, entered the sector) (Bernreuter Research, 2024). This has led to the lowest ever spot market price of 
mainstream PV modules (EUR 0.11/Wp), as shown in Table 3. 

Table 3. EU spot market module prices by technology in September 2024. 

PV module technology 

EUR/Wp 

High efficiency6 

Mainstream7 

Low cost8 

Source: (Pvxchange, 2022; PVxchange, 2023, 2024) 

0.15 
0.31 (September 2023) 
0.43 (September 2022) 

0.11 
0.22 (September 2023) 
0.34 (September 2022) 

0.07 
0.14 (September 2023) 
0.21 (September 2022) 

6  Crystalline  modules  with  mono-  or  bifacial  HJT,  N-type  TOPCon  or  IBC  (Back  Contact)  cells  and  combinations  thereof,  which  have 

efficiencies higher than 21 %. 

7 Standard modules, typically with poly- or monocrystalline cells (also PERC), which are mainly used in commercial PV systems and which 

have an efficiency of up to 21 %. 

8 Factory seconds, insolvency goods, used or low-output modules (crystalline), products with limited or no warranty, which usually also have 

no bankability. 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Previous  research,  conducted  by  IRENA,  has  shown  that  the  total  installed  costs  between  2010  and  2023 
decreased between 44 % (in the Netherlands) and 88 % in Australia, India and Spain (IRENA, 2024). Between 
2018 and 2023, cost reductions in Europe were between 1 % (United Kingdom) and 48 % (Greece), with the 
exception of Italy. Regarding Asian countries, reduction was between 5 % (Japan) and 13 % (South Korea), with 
the exception of India for which costs increased by 7 %. The United States and  Brazil had cost reductions of 
4 % and 5 % respectively between 2018 and 2023 (IRENA, 2024). 

In 2022, inverter costs represented only 4 % of the total cost of a large-scale system (>10 MWAC) (VDMA, 
2023), down from 9 % (Ribeyron, 2020). According to (former) IHS Markit, already in 2021, inverter prices were 
lower than what was projected (Ribeyron, 2020). 

As module and inverter costs have significantly decreased, nowadays other BoS costs account for a larger share 
of the system’s total costs. This is because the learning rate of modules proved to be higher than that of BoS 
and OPEX. On average, in 2023, balance of system (BoS) costs (excluding inverters) made up about 61 % of 
total installed costs of utility-scale PV plants (IRENA, 2024). Soft costs9 are varying significantly depending on 
the country. For utility-scale PV systems in the United States, in 2022, they were close to USD 0.50/WDC (around 
USD 0.09/WDC higher than in the EU and Asia) (VDMA, 2023). 

Figure 14. Large-scale system component costs in 2022 and projections. 

Source: (VDMA, 2023) 

In 2022, the capital cost for a utility-scale PV system was estimated at USD 770/kWDC in the EU, USD 705/kWDC 
in the Asia and USD 1 410/kWDC in the United States (VDMA, 2023). An estimated worldwide average for 2023 
is at USD 700/kWDC, with projections of reduction to USD 530/kWDC in 2034 (VDMA, 2024). As far as inverters 
are concerned, no significant cost reductions are expected in the next ten years impacting the total capital cost 
of the PV systems (Figure 14). The 2023 ITRPV report projected that capital cost reductions will be in the range 
of 35 % and will effectively be a result of module price and soft costs reductions (VDMA, 2023). Projections for 
worldwide average utility-scale system costs suggested USD 504/kWDC in 2034 (VDMA, 2024). 

Other work regarding the projected capital cost in Europe is shown in Figure 15. For rooftop installations, the 
capital costs may fall to an average value of EUR 1 280/kWp in 2030 from approximately EUR 1 620/kWp in 
2024, while the projection for 2050 is a compound average decrease of 3 % over the 2024-2050 period (from 
EUR 1 620/kWp to EUR 810/kWp from 2024 to 2050). Utility-scale capital costs are expected to decrease from 
EUR 460/kWp in 2024 to EUR 230/kWp in 2050. 

9 Include project developer costs, overhead and profit, sales tax and permitting fees. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 15. Capital cost projections for rooftop, commercial, industrial and utility-scale PV installations for 2030-2050. 

OPEX 

Source: (ETIP-PV, 2024) 

The O&M benchmark costs in the US in 2020 are reported to be USD 18.7/kWAC/year for commercial ground-
mounted installations, USD 18.6/kWAC/year for commercial roof-mounted installations, USD 28.9/kWAC/year for 
residential installations, USD 16.3/kWAC/year for fixed utility-scale installations and USD 17.5/kWAC/year for 1-
axis tracking utility-scale installations (IRENA, 2020b). In 2023 and depending on the market, O&M costs range 
between USD 3.6/kW/year (China) and USD 13.9/kW/year (Japan) (IRENA, 2024).  

In 2023, average O&M costs for Europe were USD 7.9/kW/year, representing a decrease of 10 % (the highest 
among  all  regions)  compared  to  2022.  Respectively,  for  Oceania  O&M  costs  were  USD  7.1/kW/year  (7  % 
compared  to  2022).  Costs  in  Eurasia  and  South  America  were  USD  6.9/kW/year  and  USD  7.3/kW/year, 
respectively (IRENA, 2024). 

An  evaluation  of  solar  energy  costs  at  EU  level  revealed  that  the  average  EU  O&M  costs10  for  utility-scale 
installations are between EUR 6.8/kWp/year and EUR 14.8/kWp/year. The lowest O&M costs are in Bulgaria in the 
range of EUR 5.2-11.2/kWp/year and the highest in Germany between EUR 8.7/kWp/year and EUR 18.9/kWp/year 
(Lugo‐laguna, Arcos‐Vargas and Nuñez‐hernandez, 2021). The low range value refers to a fixed system and the 
high range value to a 2-axis tracking system. 

LCoE 

After the increase of the global benchmark LCoE11 (Levelised Cost of Electricity) for electricity produced by PV 
systems at the end of 2021 and in 2022, it continued to decrease for non-tracking systems to a record low of 
USD2022 41/MWh at the end of 2023 (Jäger-Waldau, 2024). The main reason for this was the lower module 
prices due to the oversupply along the value chain. The full range of LCoE for non-tracking PV systems varied 
between USD 34 and 174/MWh. On the other hand, the global cost benchmark for tracking PV systems increased 
by about 9% in 2023 to USD2022 48/MWh. This was due mainly to higher costs for labour, balance of systems 
and financing in the USA. After freight costs peaked in Q3 2021 (six fold increase compared to H1 2020), they 
were in the same range as 2020 for most of 2023 with a tendency to fall towards the end. In the beginning of 
2024, the shipping disruptions in the Red Sea have already increased freight costs by 20% for solar modules 
shipped from Asia to Europe (Mercom, 2024). Between 2022 and 2024, the global benchmark LCoE for utility-
scale PV decreased by 10 % due to higher Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) (IEA, 2024d). 

IRENA estimates the global weighted average LCoE of utility-scale PV plants in 2023 to be USD 44/MWh (90 % 
decrease compared to the USD 460/MWh in 2010) (IRENA, 2024). The main contributors to this cost-reduction 
were: (i) the 45 % reduction of module costs, (ii) the 18 % reduction of inverters, racking and mounting and 
other  BoS  costs,  (iii)  the  28  %  reduction  of  installation,  engineering,  procurement  and  construction  (EPC), 
development  costs  and  other  soft  costs  and  (iv)  the  better  financial  conditions,  reduced  O&M  costs  and 
increased capacity factor (IRENA, 2024). 

10 O&M costs are calculated as a percentage of the initial investment (I0). For fixed angle PV systems: 1 % of I0 and for 2-axis tracking 

system: 1.5 % of I0. 

11 The global benchmark is calculated by BNEF with capacity-weighted averages using their latest country estimates. 

25 

 
 
 
A comparative analysis of calculated LCoE values at different EU locations and with different Weighted Average 
Costs of Capital (WACC) rates (ETIP-PV, 2024) has shown that for a residential rooftop installation (Figure 16) 
when applying a 6 % WACC, the around EUR 150/MWh of LCoE in 2024 will decrease to EUR 75/MWh of LCoE 
in 2050 in Finland. For southern locations, like in Spain, for the same conditions, the 2024 LCoE of EUR 80/MWh 
will  be  reduced  to  EUR  40/MWh  in  2050.  Indicatively,  LCoE  values  for  residential  rooftop  installations  are 
expected to be higher than utility-scale installations by a factor of roughly 2 (Vartiainen et al., 2020). 

Figure 16. PV LCoE at six European locations with different nominal WACCs for 5 kWp residential rooftop PV installation. 

Source: (ETIP-PV, 2024) 

The relevant LCoE values for a commercial rooftop installation presented in Figure 17 are lower than for the 
residential  installation  in  Figure  16.  In  Finland  from  EUR  110/MWh  in  2024  the  LCoE  will  decrease  to 
EUR 55/MWh in 2050, whereas in Spain in 2050 it will drop by approx. EUR 12/MWh from EUR 60/MWh in 2024. 

Figure 17. PV LCoE at six European locations with different nominal WACCs for 50 kWp commercial rooftop PV 
installation. 

Source: (ETIP-PV, 2024) 

A decrease of approx. EUR 37/MWh between 2024 and 2050 (from EUR 80/MWh to EUR 43/MWh) is projected 
for  the  LCoE  of  industrial  installations  in  Finland.  In  Spain,  the  LCoE  will  drop  by  EUR  21/MWh  in  2050  in 
comparison to 2024 (EUR 43/MWh) (Figure 18). 

Figure 18. PV LCoE at six European locations with different nominal WACCs for 1 MWp industrial PV installation. 

Source: (ETIP-PV, 2024) 

26 

 
 
 
 
In the case of utility-scale installations and taking into consideration the wholesale electricity prices, the cost 
of electricity produced from PV in 2024 was already competitive for all locations even with the application of 
a WACC as high as 10 % (Figure 19).  

Figure 19. PV LCoE five European locations with different nominal WACCs for 100 MWp utility-scale PV installation 
compared with average spot market electricity price of 2019-2021.

Source: (ETIP-PV, 2024) 

According  to  Figure  20  grid  parity  is  already  a  reality  in  various  countries  and  for  many  others,  costs  are 
decreasing to such levels that PV electricity is becoming competitive and expected to be even more so in the 
years to come. The figure shows the price of electricity for several countries, for three different system prices 
depending also on each country’s solar resource. The green points on the figure represent the cases where PV 
is competitive, while the blue points are the cases where PV competitiveness depends on the system prices and 
the retail prices of electricity (IEA PVPS, 2024b). 

Figure 20. LCoE as a function of solar irradiance and retail prices in key PV markets. 

2.4  Public RD&I Funding and Investments 

Source: (IEA PVPS, 2024b) 

The public investment in solar energy and PV (treated as a sub-category) at EU and global level from 2012 until 
2022 is illustrated in Figure 21a. It must be noted that data for 2022 are provisional and that the 2021 and 
2022  values  do  not  include  funding  reported  from  Italy.  Furthermore,  in  2021  Spain  has  changed  the 
methodology for collecting the data, resulting in a break in the time series between 2020 and 2021 and in the 
same year, France has revised the data transmitted by the CNRS from 2002 to improve the coverage. 

Overall, EU public investments in solar increased by 118 % between 2005 and 2011, year when they peaked. 
Thereafter they started decreasing gradually. Between 2011 and 2022 the decrease was 24 % at EU level. At 
global level, solar public investments increased by 130 % between 2005 and 2011 (peak year for investments) 
and decreased by 48 % between 2011 and 2022. 

27 

Regarding  PV  public  funding,  the  EU  experienced  a  82  %  increase  between  2005  and  2013  (peak  year  for 
investments), following a slight decrease of 8 % for the period 2013-2022. Globally, PV public investments 
increased by 101 % in 2005-2009 and decreased by 46 % over the period 2009-2022. 

While 59 % of the total solar energy sector public investment was attributed to PV in the EU, the respective 
percentage  at  global  level  was 49  %  for the  period  between  2012  and  2022  (Figure  21b and  c).  The  total 
cumulative EU public investments in PV accounted for 53 % of the total cumulative global public investments 
in PV during the period 2012-2022, while in the case of the total cumulative public investments in solar, the 
EU accounted for 44 % of the global total cumulative public investments. The above-mentioned percentages 
are lower than expected since Italy is not included in the datasets for the years 2021 and 2022. 

Figure 21. (a) EU and global public investments in Solar and PV R&D, (b) EU and (c) global allocation of solar energy 
technologies for the period 2012-2022. 

Figure 22. (a) EU public investments per MS and (b) EU public investments and % of GDP in Solar and R&D for the top 
five MS for the period 2012-2022. 

Source: JRC analysis based on IEA 

Source: JRC analysis based on IEA and (The World Bank, 2023) 

Data on PV public investments (IEA codes: 312 Solar photovoltaics) are not always reported from the EU MS 
and therefore are considered incomplete. For this reason, Figure 22a and b present MS’ and the rest of the 
world countries’ public investments in the broader technology group of solar energy rather than the specific 
technology of PV. This enables a more direct and fair comparison.  

Germany,  France,  Italy,  Spain  and  the  Netherlands  are  the  top  five  EU  countries  with  the  highest  public 
investment in solar energy technologies. Germany and France have kept a nearly constant solar energy public 
investment  as  a  percentage  of  their  GDP  at  0.003  %  and  between  0.003  %  and  0.005 %  of  their  GDP 
respectively.  Spain’s  investments  as  a  percentage  of  the  country’s  GDP  fluctuated  between  0.001  %  and 
0.003 % throughout 2012 to 2022. The same applies also for Italy with 0.004 % of its GDP until 2014 and 
decreasing thereafter. In the case of the Netherlands, the public investment as a percentage of the country’s 
GDP varied between 0.002 % and 0.004 % with a distinct peak in 2015 (0.007 % of GDP). 

Regarding the thirteen major economies presented in Figure 23, caution for the interpretation of the results is 
advised as the United States have stopped reported their public investments to the IEA after 2015 and data on 
other countries is also missing. Based on the scarce data availability, the EU appears to account for 42 % of 
the total global public investments in solar cumulatively in the period from 2011 until 2021, while Japan for 
9 % as between this period, the country appears to have reduced its investments by 75 %. When comparing 
the major economies for the period 2011-2015, the EU accounted for 40 % of the global public investments 
on solar, while the United States, Japan and Australia for 18 %, 12 % and 10 % respectively. 

28 

 
 
 
In Figure 23a and b, ‘EU (MS)’ denotes the sum of the Member States’ national investments, while ‘EU (EC FP)’ 
denotes funding from EU framework programmes (H2020) and is only available from 2014 onwards. 

Figure 23. Global public investments per country in Solar and R&D for the period 2012-2022. 

2.5  Private RD&I funding 

Source: JRC analysis based on IEA 

Retrieving as well as evaluating information on private funding for PV is difficult as private companies do not 
have  the  obligation  to  disclose  their financial  and  Research  &  Development  (R&D)  details.  According  to  the 
results of an analysis performed regarding the PV R&D funding from 2014 to 2020 (Moser  et al., 2021), a 
substantial portion of funding is coming from the private sector. In particular, approximately two-thirds of the 
R&D funding comes from the private sector and the remaining one-third from the public sector. 

The following tentative analysis is based on the use of patenting output as a proxy for private funding (Fiorini 
et  al.,  2017;  Pasimeni,  Fiorini  and  Georgakaki,  2019)  and  the  results  should  be  interpreted  with  caution 
(especially for China). Unlike public investments, the analysis is performed from 2010 until 2020, since 2021 
data is incomplete. 

According to the collected data for public R&I funding in the previous chapter and the data for private R&D 
funding in this chapter, the relationship between public and private funding is different from that presented in 
(Moser et al., 2021). While the public investments for the EU and globally ranged from EUR 156 to 196 million 
and from EUR 264 to EUR 519 million respectively for the period 2010-2020, the private investments in the 
EU and globally ranged from EUR 0.8 to EUR 1.8 billion and from EUR 6 to EUR 11.8 billion respectively for the 
same period Figure 24. Analysing the relationship between public and private funding from 2010 until 2020 in 
the  EU, it  is observed  that  public  R&D  funding  was  between  9  %  and  18  %  of  the  total  R&D funding.  This 
suggests a much higher contribution of the private sector to the PV R&D funding (82 %-91 %). Private funding 
at global level is even more important as it covers between 94 % and 96 % of the total funding. 

Figure 24. EU and global private investments in PV for the period 2010-2020. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (Fiorini et al., 2017; Pasimeni, Fiorini and Georgakaki, 2019) 

29 

Between 2010 and 2020, the indication for PV is that the EU exhibits a 49 % decrease in private investment 
and a 9 % increase in public investments. Over the same period, private investments at global level suffered a 
similar decrease to that of public investments (-45 % against -43 %). Regardless of the public or private nature 
of the investment, investments have suffered significant decreases both in the EU and globally. However, unlike 
the EU, the rest of the world is benefitting more from private rather than public investments. 

As shown in Figure 25, at global level, the PV cumulative private investments were EUR 88 billion in 2020. In 
the same year, the EU private investments amounted to EUR 14 billion (16 % of the global private investments). 

Figure 25. EU and global cumulative private investments in PV for the period 2010-2020. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (Fiorini et al., 2017; Pasimeni, Fiorini and Georgakaki, 2019) 

Figure 26a presents the five EU countries with the highest levels of cumulative private investment in the EU. 
These five countries account for 89 % of the total cumulative private investments in the EU from 2010 to 2020. 
Germany had the highest level of private investment in PV, accounting for 64 % of the cumulative investments 
(2010-2020), followed by France with 10 % and Italy with 7 %. 

Globally (Figure 26b), in 2020, the cumulative private investments in PV from Japan (24 %) and China (28 %) 
represent more than half of the global cumulative private investments. In 2019, Japan had the highest share 
in  cumulative  private  investments  (30  %),  followed  by  China  (23  %).  However, it  must  be  noted  that  2020 
dataset is near complete. The EU represents 16 % of the total cumulative private investments from 2010 to 
2020, representing approximately EUR 14 billion out of a total of approximately EUR 88.5 billion. The next two 
regions are the US and South Korea (each 13 %). 

Figure 26. (a) EU cumulative private investments in PV per MS and (b) global cumulative private investments in PV EU 
and top five countries for the period 2010-2020. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (Fiorini et al., 2017; Pasimeni, Fiorini and Georgakaki, 2019) 

30 

Global  VC  investments12  in  photovoltaic  companies increased  sharply  over the  past  2  years,  surpassing  the 
highest  levels  seen  in  the  early  2010s,  and  amounted  to  around  EUR  3  billion  in  2023  (Figure  27).  This 
represents an increase of 22 % compared to 2022 levels, a five-fold growth compared to 2020, and puts an 
end to a period of lower investments  whose beginning can be traced back in 2014. This trend is essentially 
driven by an outstanding growth of VC investments in Chinese firms in 2021 and 2022, both at early and later 
stages13, and, to a smaller extent, by the rebound of later stage investments in US firms after a long period of 
lower investment levels. 

Figure 27. EU and global total Venture Capital (VC) investments for the period 2012-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on Pitchbook 

China accounts for 84 % of global early-stage investments and 41 % of global later stage investments over 
2018-2023. While later stage investments in Chinese companies decreased by 12 % between 2021 and 2022, 
2023 has been proven a year of massive later stage investments with an increase of 70 %. However, as later 
stage investments in China increased significantly, early stage investments decreased by 50 % between 2022 
and 2023 (between 2021 and 2022 they had increased, compensating for the later stage decrease).  

The United States and the EU host respectively 40 % and 23 % of active venture capital companies over the 
2018-2023 period. With 14 % of identified ventures, China has however taken a clear lead in the VC investment 
race with a high level of constant investment over the past 2 years. Regarding the total VC investments (early 
and later stage), China and the United States accounted for 50 % and 20 % respectively in the 2018-2023 
period, while the EU accounted for 19 % of the global 2018-2023 total (see Figure 28). 

Early-stage investments in EU VC companies amounted to EUR 130 million over the 2018-2023 period. They 
have continuously decreased after a peak in 2020 (EUR 60 million) and remained at half in 2021 and 2022. 
Over the 2018-2023 period, the EU accounted for 4 % of global early-stage investments (vs 9 % over 2017-
2022) and its competitive positions further weakens in an accelerating global investment race. EU companies 
however only captured 10 % of the identified grant funding14 over the 2018-2023 period behind the United 
States (34 %). The United Kingdom and Canada follow the EU 9 % and 8 % share of grant funding respectively. 
The remaining 39 % is attributed to the rest of the world, with most of it (78 %) for companies in Norway and 
20 % in Australia. PitchBook only reports negligible (or none) amount of grant funding for Japanese, Korean or 
Chinese start-ups. 

12 Private Equity refers to capital investments (ownership or interest) made into companies that are not publicly traded. Venture capital 
(VC) is a form of private equity and a type of financing that investors provide to start-up companies and small businesses that have 
long-term growth potential. The early and later stages indicators in this analysis aggregate different types of equity investments in a 
selection of companies and along the different stages of their growth path. Companies are selected based on their activity description 
(keyword selection and expert review). 

13 For early and later stages investments, only pre-venture companies (that have received Angel or Seed funding, or are less than 2 years 
old and have not received funding) and venture capital companies (companies that have, at some point, been part of the portfolio of 
a venture capital investment firm) are included. 

14  Even  though  grant  funding is not  equity  funding,  grants  are  included among early  VC  stages  because  they  are an  import  source  of 

funding for start-ups. 

31 

Figure 28. Top ten countries total Venture Capital (VC) investments for all stages for the periods 2012-2017 and 2018-
2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on Pitchbook 

Later stages investments in EU companies amounted to EUR 1 billion over the 2018-2023 period. While they 
have decreased by 21 % between in 2021 and 2022, they increased again in 2023 (50 % compared to 2022), 
at a level of 15 times higher than in 2020. Accounting for 24 % of global later stage investments over 2018-
2023 (vs 21 % over 2017-2022), the EU maintained its competitive position despite the increase of later stage 
investments for Chinese companies between 2022 and 2023. The EU increased its later stage investments by 
50 % between 2022 and 2023 (respectively, China’s later stage investments increased by 70 % during the 
same period). Late-stage VC investments in EU companies are essentially concentrated in Germany and France, 
which outrank the United Kingdom, but remain far behind the United States and China. 

2.6  Patenting trends 

Patenting trends are a valuable tool to analyse research trends in concepts that have market value. They are 
essentially using R&D knowledge to translate it into commercialised products. It must be noted though that in 
no way they may be used for R&D analysis but they can provide an insight into innovation. 

The dataset used for the creation of the patent indicators (Fiorini et al., 2017; Pasimeni, 2019; Pasimeni, Fiorini 
and Georgakaki, 2019, 2021; Pasimeni and Georgakaki, 2020) is based on the following Cooperative Patent 
Classification (CPC) codes: Y02B 10/10, Y02E 10/50, Y02E 10/52, Y02E 10/541, Y02E 10/542, Y02E 10/543, 
Y02E 10/544, Y02E 10/545, Y02E 10/546, Y02E 10/547, Y02E 10/548, Y02E 10/549 (European Patent Office, 
2023). It has to be noted though that data for 2021 is not complete. 

As depicted in Figure 29, China has the largest number of patents with almost 14 000 inventions, followed by 
South Korea and Japan. The EU is in 4th position with 790 inventions in total between 2019 and 2021. 

32 

Figure 29. Number of inventions and share of high-value and international activity for the period 2019-2021. 

Source: JRC analysis based on EPO Patstat 

Figure 30. (a) Number of high-value Inventions between 2010 and 2021 and (b) Top ten countries with high-value 
inventions for the period 2019-2021. 

Source: JRC analysis based on EPO Patstat 

However, when only the high-value inventions15 are taken into consideration, the EU moves 1st with 55 % of its 
total inventions being high-value inventions and China results into the last position, thus suggesting that the 
EU, unlike China, is generally filing to more than one patent office16. The same trend is evident also as far as 
international inventions17 are concerned. The EU is aiming for patent applications outside while China appears 
to be concentrated on applying mainly within the country rather than internationally. The EU is surpassed by 
Japan  and  the  United  States  regarding  the  international  inventions.  While  Figure  29  shows  the  high-value 
inventions as a percentage of the total number of inventions, Figure 30a presents the number of high-value 
inventions in absolute numbers for each year from 2010 until 2021.  Germany, France, the Netherlands and 
Spain are among the top ten countries with the highest number of high-value inventions between 2019 and 
2021 (Figure 30b). 

Table 4 and Table 5 respectively present the top ten entities globally and in the EU which filed the highest 
number of inventions in PV between 2019 and 2021. 

15 High-value inventions (or high-value patent families) refer to patent families that include patent applications filed in more than one 
patent office. International inventions include patent applications protected in a country different to the residence of the applicant. 
High-value considers EU countries separately, while for international inventions European countries are viewed as one macro category. 

16 An invention is considered of high-value when it contains patent applications to more than one office. 
17 Patent applications protected in a country different to the residence of the applicant. 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
Table 4. Global top ten entities with high-value inventions in PV for the period 2019-2021. 
Number of high-value 
inventions 

Entities 

Country 

Samsung Display Co Ltd 

Boe Technology Group Co Ltd 

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor 
Display Technology Co Ltd 

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 

Lg Philips Lcd Co Ltd 

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co 
Ltd 

Shaanxi Lighte Optoelectronics Material Co Ltd 

Chengdu Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd 

Duk San Neolux Co Ltd 

Merck Patent Gmbh 

Source: JRC analysis based on EPO Patstat 

299 

128 

111 

57 

56 

32 

31 

25 

23 

23 

KR 

CN 

CN 

KR 

KR 

JP 

CN 

CN 

KR 

DE 

In the top ten, global entities with high-value inventions are mostly based in China and South Korea. Japan and 
Germany conclude the ranking with one entity each. Merck Patent Gmbh (Germany), the only EU entity in this 
top  ten,  re-appears  in  this  ranking  after  being  absent  during  the  period  2018-2020  (Chatzipanagi,  Jaeger-
Waldau,  et  al.,  2022;  Chatzipanagi,  Jaeger-Waldau,  Cleret  de  Langavant,  et  al.,  2023)As  far  as  the  EU  is 
concerned, the top ten list highlights the leadership of German entities in high-value inventions (Table 5). Cynora 
Gmbh  fell  to  the  6th  position  and    Merck  Patent  Gmbh  re-emerged  as  1st,  as  in  the  period  2017-2019 
(Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-Waldau, et al., 2022; Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-Waldau, Cleret de Langavant, et al., 2023). 

Table 5. EU top ten entities with high-value inventions in PV for the period 2019-2021. 

Entities 

Merck Patent Gmbh 

Azur Space Solar Power Gmbh 

Heliatek Gmbh 

Hanwha Q Cells Gmbh 

Novaled Gmbh 

Cynora Gmbh 

Isorg 

Total Sa 

Eni Spa 

Meyer Burger Germany Gmbh 

Source: JRC analysis based on EPO Patstat 

Number of high-value 
inventions 

Country 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DE 

FR 

FR 

IT 

AT 

23 

18 

12 

12 

12 

12 

7 

4 

4 

4 

34 

 
Figure 31 presents the countries in which patents for high-value inventions were submitted, and subsequently 
enjoyed patent protection,  between 2019 and  2021. Chinese applicants have mainly chosen to patent their 
inventions in the US. The number of patent applications in the EU and other countries is very small. US inventors 
have  split  their  patent  applications  evenly  between  China,  Europe  and  other  geographical  areas.  The  same 
applies  also  for  EU  inventors,  where  patent  applications  are  split  evenly  between  US  and  others.  However, 
patents  in  China  appear  to  be  slightly  reduced  compared  to  the  period  2018-2020  (Chatzipanagi,  Jaeger-
Waldau, Cleret de  Langavant,  et al., 2023). Applicants from South Korea are mainly applying in the  US and 
China  and  to  a  lesser  extent  in  Europe.  In  conclusion,  the  US  is  receiving  the  largest  number  of  high-value 
invention applications. Europe is 3rd to last as far as the reception of patent applications is concerned. 
A more detailed evaluation of the high-value patenting activity for the single CPC codes for CIS, dye-sensitised, 
II-VI group, III-V group, micro c-Si, mono c-Si, poly c-Si, a-Si and organic PV cells from 2009 until 2020 reveals 
a  general  decreasing  trend  for  all  PV  technologies.  More  in  particular,  III-V  group  PV  cell  patents  exhibit 
fluctuations (increases and decreases) between 2010 and 2021, with the United States being the leader and 
the  EU  improving  its  position  in  the  last  years.  High-value  patents  related  to  the  organic  technology,  have 
experienced an increase between 2010 and 2018 and started decreasing thereafter. Japan is leading in the 
field of dye-sensitised, mono c-Si and a-Si PV cell patents. The US is the country with the highest number of 
patents overall on II-VI group and III-V group PV cells and South Korea patented inventions mostly relating to 
organic PV cells, with China is following close South Korea in number of high-value patents after 2018. The EU 
has significantly increased the number of high-value patents related to III-V group PV cells and surpassed the 
US to reach the leading position in this domain in 2020. 

Figure 31. International protection of high-value inventions for the period 2019-2021. 

Source: JRC analysis based on EPO Patstat and Sankeymatic 

2.7  Scientific publication trends 

In the EU, the number of publications on PV technologies has  increased steadily from 2013 to 2023 for all 
technologies apart from perovskites. For this later particular PV technology, there has been a rapid increase in 
the  number  of  papers  published  from  2014  onwards  (Figure  32a),  due  to  the  promising  outlooks  of  this 
technology. It is thanks to this intense research activity that the perovskites technology has reached such high 
efficiencies in  recent  years.  The  analysis of  PV  technologies  publications  at  global  level  confirms  the  same 
trends as at EU level. In general, global publications dealing with the perovskite technology accounted for only 
8 % of all technologies publications in 2013 but slowly increased, reaching an 83 % share in 2023. CdTe and 
CIS technologies publications decreased from around 22 % of all technologies publications in 2013 to 4 % in 
2023. Publications related to kesterite and multi-junction technologies decreased from approx. 16 % in 2013 
to  3  %  in  2023.  Those  on  mono  cSi,  poly  cSi  and  a-Si  are  very  limited,  resulting  to  being  at  1  %  of  total 
publications in 2023 from 8 % in 2013. 

35 

CNKREUJPUSSouth KoreaUnited StatesOtherChinaEuropeROWJapanCountryof applicantDestinationIP Office 
 
The number of publications on mono c-Si, a-Si, and kesterite technologies has been comparable for the EU and 
China  from  2013  until  2023.    On  poly  c-Si,  CIS/CGS  and  multi-junction  technologies,  the  EU  has  had  more 
publications than other countries. As far as the CdTe technology is concerned, the leading country in publications 
is the United States for the period 2013-2023 (being the dominant country in the CdTe production and market). 
However, it  must  be  noted  that  publications  on  CdTe  technology  in  the  United  States  have  decreased  after 
2016. For the perovskite technology, which is the highest-trending topic, China has the highest number of papers 
between 2013 and 2023 (Figure 33). 

Figure 32. EU publications on PV (a) technologies, (b) systems and (c) applications for the period 2013-2023. 

Figure 33. Global publications on perovskites for the period 2013-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis 

Source: JRC analysis 

However, apart from the total number of publications, an analysis of the quality of publications is required. As 
depicted in Figure 34, the EU has less than half of China’s publications on perovskites but the EU’s highly cited 
publications are slightly more numerous than China’s highly cited publications (41 % against 37 %). The best 
performing country is Switzerland, for which 58 % of its total number of publications is also highly cited. The 
United States and the United Kingdom follow with 48 %. In terms of Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI), 
China’s FWCI is lower (3.2) than the EU’s (3.9), meaning less frequent citations despite the large number of 
papers as a total. Almost half of the total number of publications on perovskites in the United States are highly 
cited publications and the country’s FWCI is 4.9, denoting the high quality and frequent citation of the relevant 
papers. 

36 

 
 
 
At EU level, Germany is the country with the highest number of publications and citations on all PV technologies. 
The other countries in the EU’s top five are Spain, Italy, France and Sweden. In terms of collaboration networks 
for the publication of papers, China has strong bonds with the United States while the EU is mainly collaborating 
with the United Kingdom, Switzerland but also with India, Japan and China. At EU level, the countries with the 
highest number of publications (Germany, Italy, France and Spain) collaborate mainly between themselves as 
well as with the Netherlands and Belgium. 

Figure 34. Global highly cited publications on perovskites and EU position for the period 2013-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis 

In  the  field  of  PV  systems,  publications  in  the  EU  as  illustrated  in  Figure  32b  evidence  a  predominance  of 
literature on the topic of inverters. The same is true at global level as well. Globally, from 2013 until 2023, 
approximately 9 774 papers on inverters were published. Papers dealing with PV tracking systems were only 
615.  For  BoS  and  hardware  installation,  there  were  around  130  and  66  papers  respectively  over  the  same 
period.  Germany,  Spain,  Denmark  and  Italy  account  for  slightly  more  than  half  of  the  EU’s  publications  on 
inverters. Germany ranks 1st in the EU, with 16 % of the EU’s papers. In 2013, 14 % of the papers on inverters 
globally were published by institutions based in the EU. This share remained stable until 2023. China also has 
a high number of publications in this field and its share in scientific publications remained stable around 30 % 
between 2013 and 2023, thus holding the first position. India, having a tradition in power systems research, is 
the 3rd country in the ranking with a share of publications in 2023 comparable with the EU’s. China has the 
greatest number of publications on inverters, followed by the EU, India and the United States but only 22 % of 
China’s publications are highly cited, whereas EU’s and United States’ portion of highly cited publications is 25 
% and 30 % respectively. China’s FWCI is 2.1 against 2.3 for the EU and 3.0 for the United States. It should be 
noted that EU’s excellence in the inverters segment of the PV value chain is not necessarily reflected in the 
number of publications on inverters, as these publications are usually produced by research centres rather than 
private companies that are also very active in this field. For publications on inverters, China, the EU and the 
United States, the countries with the highest number of publications, seem to co-publish with countries labelled 
under  ‘RoW’  rather  than  among  themselves.  At  EU  level,  the  strongest  collaborations  clusters  on  inverter 
publications  are  -between  France-Italy-Spain-Finland  and  Sweden-the  Netherlands-Belgium.  Germany  is 
collaborating mainly with non-EU countries like the United Kingdom and Switzerland. 

Building integrated photovoltaics is the PV application that attracted the highest number of publications to date, 
as illustrated in Figure 32c. The interest in floating photovoltaics has increased over the past 4 years and so 
has  the  number  of  related  publications.  Agrivoltaics-related  publications  surpassed  publications  related  to 
floating  PV  after  2021  and  vehicle  integrated  photovoltaics  has  started  attracting  more  attention  after the 
same year. The EU, from 2013 until 2023, has published the highest number of papers on building integrated 
photovoltaics making up for 22 % of the total number of papers on the topic globally. China follows with 18 %. 
More than 22 % of the EU’s publications on building integrated photovoltaics come from Italy. Spain followed 
with 16 % and Germany with 12 % of the EU’s building integrated photovoltaics publications. Even though the 
EU has the highest number of papers on building integrated photovoltaics, the highly-cited ones represent only 
24 % of the total. By comparison, China’s highly-cited papers on building integrated photovoltaics represent 
34 % of the total. China has a higher FWCI than the EU (2.5 against 1.9). The United Kingdom’s and the United 
States’ highly cited publications are 33 % and 30 % of the global building integrated photovoltaics publications 
respectively and the countries have FWCIs of 2.8 and 2.1 respectively. In this field, collaborations are multiple 
and  different  depending  on  the  specific  application.  In  the  field  of  vehicle  integrated  photovoltaics  strong 

37 

 
 
collaborations are identified between EU-Japan, EU-United States, EU-Switzerland and China-South Korea-India. 
At EU level, Spain and France are co-publishing several papers on building integrated photovoltaics, just like the 
Netherlands and Germany on vehicle integrated photovoltaics.  

2.8  Assessment of R&I project developments  

The assessment of the R&I developments covers the 2014 to 2024 period and includes projects from Horizon 
2020, Horizon Europe, LIFE, LIFE2027, Innovation Fund (IF), Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), Connecting Europe 
Facility 2027 (CEF2027), Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism (RENEWFM), European Maritime and Fisheries 
Fund/European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFF/EMFAF) and European Research Council (ERC). 

From  2014,  a  total  of  approximately  EUR  1.4  billion  has  been  invested  in  three  hundred  and  forty  four  PV 
projects.  Of  this  amount,  EUR  309  million  were  granted  to  projects  that  were  concluded  by  2023  and  the 
remaining EUR  1 072 million concern ongoing  projects that will be concluded after 2024.  Of the overall EU 
funding,  almost  30  %  of  the  project  budget  is  directed  to  research  on  innovation,  followed  by  budget  for 
fellowships awarded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie programmes (24 %). Coordination actions accounted for 
15 % of the overall EU funding, grants to researchers provided by the European Research Council (ERC) attracted 
another 12 % and actions for SMEs another 10 %. Other actions under the Connecting Europe Facility-Energy, 
LIFE and the Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism attracted the remaining 9 %. 

Small projects receive below EUR 1 million in funding whereas large projects receive funding over EUR 1 million. 
There  have  been  264  large  projects  identified  which  received  approximately  EUR  1  365  million  in  funding, 
corresponding  to  99  %  of  the  total  EU  financial  contribution  and  80  small  projects  which  received  around 
EUR 17 million, corresponding to the remaining 1 % of the total EU financial contribution to projects. 

Funding in 2014 was only EUR 50 000 and is not visible in Figure 35. The year with the highest EU financial 
contribution was 2023 when EUR 330 million were granted to PV-related projects. In 2024 the EU financial 
support to projects amounted to EUR 327 million, of which 63 % (EUR 206 million) were through the Innovation 
Fund (IF). The biggest contribution went to HOPE project (EUR 200 million). Also in 2021 (the second year of the 
programme), 70 % of the EUR 174 million presented in  Figure 35, came from the IF and were dedicated to 
TANGO project. 

Figure 35. EU funding contribution for the period 2014-2025. 

Source: JRC analysis based on data compilation 

The 2023 revised PV Implementation Plan (Figure 36) adopts the challenges and corresponding targets and R&I 
topics from the 2022 ETIP-PV SRIA (SNETP, 2022). This will contribute to a common understanding of PV R&I 
priorities  at  European  and  Member  State  levels  and  facilitate  the  alignment  of  R&I  and  cross-border 
collaboration aimed for (IWG PV-Implementation Working Group on Photovoltaics, 2023). 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 36. Transfer of the 2017 PV Implementation Plan activities to the 2023 PV Implementation Plan activities. 

Source: (IWG PV-Implementation Working Group on Photovoltaics, 2023) 

According to Table 6, half of the EU funding was dedicated to research on enhancing the performance of PV 
modules and/or reducing their costs. R&I on different applications and integrations of PV received 20 % of the 
EU’s funding budget, while one-fourth was given to projects related to lifetime enhancement, reliability and 
sustainability together with research on how PV can be smartly integrated into the energy system. 

Table 6. EU contribution per 2023 SET Plan PV IWG priorities. 

Priority 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Performance enhancement and cost reduction 

Enhancing lifetime, reliability and sustainability 

Diversified application and integration 

Smart energy system integration 

Socio-economic aspects of the transition 

1 & 2 

Performance enhancement and cost reduction & 
Enhancing lifetime, reliability and sustainability 

EU funding 

EU funding 

[EUR million] 

[% of total] 

693 

161 

273 

184 

39 

32 

50 % 

12 % 

20 % 

13 % 

3 % 

2 % 

Total 

1 383 

100 % 

Source: JRC analysis based on data compilation 

In terms of PV technology (Figure 37a), projects for HJT modules received approx. EUR 344 million (25 % of the 
total EU contribution for the period 2014-2025), mainly due to the TANGO and HOPE projects (EUR 318 million 
together). However, it must be noted that these two projects were funded through the IF funding scheme as big 
flagship  projects  with  European  added  value.  The  second  most  funded  technology  is  that  of  perovskites. 
Perovskite technology (as pure perovskite or in combination with other technologies), received EUR 134 million 
or 10 % of the EU’s total funding budget. Silicon technology remains a higher priority in R&I in comparison to 
other less promising technologies such as CIGS, kesterites or organic PV, with 6 % of the funding. According to 
Figure 37b, applications characterised as “general” account for most of the funding (TANGO and HOPE projects 
included  in  this category),  followed  by  system integration  and integrated  applications  (EUR  194  million  and 
EUR 185 million respectively). Building applications, with EUR 104 million in total, accounted for 7 % of the total 
EU funding, whereas recycling for 5 % with approx.. EUR 65 million being dedicated to research for end-of-life 
PV. 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 37. EU contribution per (a) PV technology and (b) application. 

Source: JRC analysis based on data compilation 

The  breakdown  to  country  level  finds  Germany  being  the  country  participating  in  most  H2020  and  Horizon 
Europe projects (155) from 2014 until 2025, followed by Spain, Italy and France with 125, 117 and 99 projects 
respectively. Germany, Spain, Italy and France together, account for approximately 66 % of the total H2020 
and Horizon Europe funding for the period 2014-2025 (EUR 715 million). The individual funding received was 
EUR 161 million for Germany, EUR 138 million for Spain, EUR 85 million for Italy and EUR 91 million for France. 

From the total number of 344 projects, 87 were used for a TRL analysis. From these 87 projects, 28 started at 
TRLs 4-5 (prototype) receiving 20 % of the EUR 813 million, while 31 started at a TRL 6-7 (validation) receiving 
33 % of the budget. Projects of higher TRL 8-9 (production) represent 17 % of the total number of projects but 
received the most EU funding (40 %). The evaluation of the target TRL is more difficult as there are several 
other projects for which a stating target TRL is missing. Table 7 presents the 87 projects with their starting and 
target TRLs, in combination with the received EU funding. 

Table 7. EU funding in EUR million and number of projects () with starting and target TRLs for 87 EU funded projects. 

Target TRL 

n/a 

TRL1 

TRL2 

TRL3 

TRL4 

TRL5 

TRL6 

TRL7 

TRL8 

TRL9 

Total 

Starting 
TRL 

TRL1 

TRL2 

TRL3 

TRL4 

TRL5 

69 (16) 

TRL6 

7 (1) 

TRL7 

183 (24) 

TRL8 

21 (6) 

TRL9 

308 (9) 

12 (3) 

38 (9) 

5 (1) 

8 (2) 

13 (2) 

6 (1) 

64 (7) 

12 (3) 

43 (10) 

27 (5) 

133 (23) 

38 (2) 

43 (4) 

88 (7) 

183 (24) 

21 (6) 

308 (9) 

Total 

587 (56) 

12 (3) 

46 (11) 

18 (3) 

107 (10) 

43 (4) 

813 (87) 

Source: JRC analysis based on data compilation 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As far as the PV technologies and the related TRLs are concerned, it is identified that most of the EU funding is 
directed to projects related to CIGS technology start from TRL5 and those for IBC and HJT technology between 
TRL5 and TRL7. Perovskites exhibit a wider range of TRLs, from 3 to 7. The mature silicon technology projects 
are with TRLs from 7 to 9. In the case of PV applications, most of the EU funding is directed to projects related 
to integrated applications with TRLs between 7 and 8, recycling with TRL5-7 and projects related to system 
integration that exhibit the highest TRLs (8-9). 

A list of the concluded, as well as the ongoing projects receiving EU financial funding, can be found in Annex 4. 
The list includes R&I projects with a starting date from 2014 until 2025. 

The  second  Horizon  Europe  Strategic  Plan  includes  the  “European  Co-Programmed  Partnership  on  Solar 
Photovoltaics (PV)”. The Partnership will promote the industrial engagement in PV R&I to support the innovation 
ecosystem across the full PV value chain. It will represent the R&I pillar of the EU Solar PV Industry Alliance 
(European Commission, 2024c). 

41 

 
3  Value Chain Analysis  

3.1  Turnover 

The EU PV turnover in 2022 was approximately EUR 41 billion, growing from EUR 28 billion in 2021. The slight 
decrease in turnover between 2019 and 2020, as depicted in Figure 38 was the result of a price effect rather 
than a volume effect, as the installed capacity between 2019 and 2020 actually increased. This indicated that 
cost reductions are translating into price reductions for consumers. The compound annual growth rate of the 
PV turnover in the EU was 24 % between 2015 and 2022. Globally, the PV market is estimated to have reached 
a turnover of approximately USD 235 billion (EUR 223 billion18) in 2022 (Fortune Business Insights, 2023) and 
thus, the EU’s share is 18.4 % of the total. In 2021 the EU’s share was 16.5 %. The global turnover of the PV 
sector in 2023 amounts to USD 254 billion (EUR 238 billion19) (Fortune Business Insights, 2024). 

Figure 38. EU turnover in PV for the period 2015-2022. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (EurObserv’ER, 2024a) 

Germany, the Netherlands and Spain accounted for half of the EU’s turnover in 2022, whereas the aggregated 
turnover of the top five countries in Figure 39 (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland) makes up 
for more than two-thirds of the EU’s turnover in the same year.  

Figure 39. EU turnover in PV for the top EU countries for the period 2018-2022. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (EurObserv’ER, 2024a) 

18 Euro foreign exchange reference rates: 1 USD2022 = 0.9497 EUR2022 

(https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-usd.en.html) 

19 Euro foreign exchange reference rates: 1 USD2023 = 0.9371 EUR2023 

(https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-usd.en.html) 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
Germany and Netherlands have steadily increased their turnover from 2015 to 2022 with market compound 
annual growth rates of 18 % and 37 % respectively. The Spanish market recovered from the 2020’s decrease 
in  turnover,  with  CAGR  of  37  %  between  2020  and  2022,  without  though  managing  to  reach  its  2019  of 
EUR 5.5 billion turnover. France, on the other side, after reverting its market to higher than 2019 levels, has 
experienced  another  decrease  (-13 %)  in  turnover  between  2021  and  2022.  While  the  above-mentioned 
countries are traditionally in the top five list for all the years, Poland constitutes an emerging market with a 
compound annual growth rate of 69 % between 2015 and 2022 (Figure 40). 

Figure 40. Turnover in PV for the top five EU countries for the period 2015-2022. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (EurObserv’ER, 2024a) 

In addition to Poland, Lithuania and Sweden are two emerging markets with strong CAGRs of 56 % and 50 % 
respectively for the period 2015-2022. Italy demonstrates a rather low CAGR in turnover (16 %) between the 
same years. 

Figure 41. (a) Absolute and (b) share of turnover along the upstream (polysilicon to module) value chain for major 
economies in 2023. 

Source: (IEA PVPS, 2024b) 

According to Figure 41a, China is dominant in all segments of the upstream (Annex 5) PV value chain (from 
polysilicon to modules production), accounting for 78 % of the global turnover in 2023. South Korea and Japan’s 
turnover in the upstream (polysilicon to module) PV sector is attributed to modules, whereas Europe’s turnover 
relies entirely on polysilicon (Figure 41b). Approx. 0.8 % of 2023 global GDP is due to the PV manufacturing 
sector.  For  China,  the  PV  industry  is  responsible  for  0.46  %  of  its  GDP,  while  for  Malaysia  the  respective 
percentage is around 1 % (IEA PVPS, 2024b). 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
3.2  Gross value added  

The gross value added (GVA) is an economic productivity metric that measures the contribution of a corporate 
subsidiary, company, or municipality to an economy, producer, sector, or region. 

EU’s GVA in PV exhibited a CAGR of 24 % between 2016 (EUR 4.6 billion) and 2022 (EUR 17 billion). At EU level 
and similarly to turnover, Spain had a remarkably high gross value added in 2019 that reached EUR 2.4 billion 
and then decreased to around EUR  0.9 billion in 2020 and ultimately followed an increasing trend to  reach 
EUR 1.7 billion in 2022. France has decreased its gross value added by -13 % between 2021 and 2022.  By 
contrast, most EU countries have increased their gross value added in 2022 compared to the previous years. 
Germany is again the leading EU market (Figure 42). 

Figure 42. Gross Value Added (GVA) in PV for the top ten EU countries for the period 2019-2022. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (EurObserv’ER, 2024a) 

3.3  Environmental and socio-economic sustainability 

PV modules produced in China have a higher carbon footprint than those in the EU. PV modules manufactured 
in the EU produce 40 % less CO2 than PV modules manufactured in China (Fraunhofer ISE, 2021). This is mainly 
attributed to the polysilicon (poly-Si) and the monocrystalline Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) production. Regarding 
the  different  PV  module  configurations,  the  glass-glass  PV  modules  have  a  slightly  lower  carbon  footprint 
compared to the traditional backsheet and framed PV modules (Figure 43). 

Figure 43. Carbon footprint of different PV module configurations in different countries. 

Source: (ETIP-PV, 2023) 

44 

 
 
 
A fully-fledged and adapted methodology for PV module carbon footprint calculation, with particular regard to 
the manufacturing and shipping phases, has been proposed in 2023 (Polverini et al., 2023). This method has 
the potential of being adapted to consider the full life cycle of PV modules, including end-of-life phase. It is a 
basis for the market requirements of the ‘ecological profile’ of products, according to the Ecodesign Directive 
(European Commission, 2022c). 

Additional information environmental sustainability (Sustainability Assessment Framework (SAF) table) can be 
found in Annex 6. 

3.4  Role of EU Companies  

The analysis of the EU companies in the PV value chain is performed based on the structure presented in Figure 
44. 

Figure 44. PV value chain structure. 

Source: JRC 2023 

In June 2023, Norwegian Crystals, the mono c-Si ingot producer has declared bankruptcy, weakening the efforts 
for rebuilding the EU PV supply chain (Bernreuter Research, 2023a). In addition, in September 2023, NorSun SA 
announced a temporary suspension of its production, and ultimately also related employee layoffs, as a result 
of  the  pressure  from  the  module  oversupply  in  Europe  (PV  Magazine,  2023).  The  company  has  recently 
announced  its  intention  to  build  5  GWp  ingot  and wafer  manufacturing  plant  in  the  United  States  (PV  Tech, 
2024).  At the end of 2023 and throughout 2024, several other manufacturers in the different steps of the PV 
supply chain like REC Silicon ASA, Exasun BV and Systovi SAS have closed their manufacturing facilities. Meyer 
Burger Technology AG is also considering a permanent closure of its production plant in Germany. Several other 
European companies are facing difficulties and are at risk of closure (Solitek, Voltec Solar, Bisol, Belga Solar, 
etc.) (S&P Global, 2024). 

Regarding the raw materials of PV manufacturing the EU leading company in  polysilicon is Wacker Chemie, 
while the main companies for solar glass are Interfloat Corporation (Germany), ENF Ltd. (Germany), Euroglas 
GmbH (Germany), Saint-Gobain (France) and Alliaverre (France). Endurans (the Netherlands), Coveme (Italy), 
Dunmore (Germany) and Aluminium Feron (Germany) are the main producers of backsheets and foils (ETIP-PV, 
2023). Apart from the Austrian company Borealis, encapsulant producers are mainly located outside the EU, 
while silver paste producers in the EU are Heraeus (Germany), DuPont and Dycotec Materials (United Kingdom) 
(ETIP-PV, 2023). 

Annex 7 presents the main EU companies for production equipment for polysilicon, ingot, wafer, cell and module 
as well as for module components, tracking systems and inverters. The information has been obtained from 
SolarPower Europe (SolarPower Europe, 2023c). 

Some  of  the  most  important  EU  players  in  the  “Monitoring  &  Controls”  field  are  Green  Power  Monitoring, 
AlsoEnergy  (which  is  a  United  States  based  company  that  operates  partially  in  the  EU),  Solar-log  and 
Meteo&Control. Regarding the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) segment, there are numerous 
companies and the market is highly fragmented. The same applies also for the deployment segment with major 
companies such as Enel Green Power, Engie and BayWa.re leading the market. In the recycling segment, the EU 
counts  more  than  15  recycling  companies.  Some,  indicatively,  that  are  dealing  with  direct  recycling  of  PV 
modules are Envaris, Reiling, Rieger & Kraft Solar and Rinovasol in Germany, La Mia Energia and Yousolar in 
Italy,  Euresi  and  Solucciona  Energia  in  Spain.  Regarding  the  rest  of  the  world,  Switzerland  and  the  United 
Kingdom also have PV recycling facilities, while the United States have an extended recycling market with more 
than 20 companies  (CEM, Cleanlites Recycling, Dynamic Lifecycle, Echo Environmental, Exotech, Fab Tech, First 
Solar, Green Lights Recycling, Mitsubishi Electric, We Recycle Solar and others) (ENF, 2023). 

As  far  as  the  promising  perovskite  technology  is  concerned,  the  material  provision  market  is  dominated  by 
companies in the United States and Japan. Among the approximately twenty global material providers there is 
also Dyenamo in Sweden (Perovskite-info, 2023b). Two major EU module developers; Enel Green Power in Italy 
and  Evolar  in  Sweden  are  among  the  twenty  global  market  players  for  the  perovskite  technology,  with  the 
United States dominating. Oxford PV is an important company in the sector and is based in the United Kingdom 
(Perovskite-info,  2023c).  The  EU  is  a  leader  in  the  equipment  manufacturing  for  the  perovskite  technology. 
Seven major companies are active in the sector: MBRAUN, Aixtron and Bergfeld Lasertech in Germany, FOM 

45 

 
 
Technologies and infinityPV in Denmark, SparkNano in the Netherlands and JACOMEX in France (Perovskite-info, 
2023a). 

Figure 45 presents the global innovating corporate and VC companies in the field of PV. However, it must be 
noted that the corporate companies included in the graph are the identified innovators between 2017 and 2022 
unlike the VC innovators that are active in the period 2018 and 2023. The reason for this is that the updated 
patent dataset used to  derive to the  results is only an intermediary release and cannot be used to identify 
corporate innovators over the period 2018-23 in a way that is comparable with last year’s report (Chatzipanagi, 
Jaeger-Waldau, Cleret de Langavant, et al., 2023). 

Figure 45. Innovating companies in the period 2017-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on compilation of sources 

Ten countries host almost 85 % of identified innovators globally (Figure 45). The United States concurs the first 
position with 20 % of the world’s innovating companies, followed by China with a share of 19 %. Three EU 
countries are included in the top ten  countries of innovating companies: Germany (4 th), France  (6th) and the 
Netherlands (9th). The United States (1st) and China (2nd) have a very strong base of venture capital companies 
while most of the innovators in Japan (3rd), Germany (4th) and South Korea (5th) are corporate innovators (Figure 
45). Within the EU (hosting 21 % of the globally identified innovating companies), the Netherlands and Sweden 
report a stronger share of venture capital companies. 

3.5  Employment 

Employment in the PV sector is another parameter reflecting its market growth. Employment data differ based 
on the source as can be seen in Box 2. The discrepancies encountered in the different sources are a result of 
different methodological approaches in estimating the employment, both at EU as well as global level.  From 
the 826 000 PV jobs in the EU in 2023, SPE estimates that 362 000 were direct. IEA-PVPS’s estimation for the 
direct jobs created in 2022 is 500 000. IRENA reports direct and indirect jobs and estimates the EU PV jobs in 
2023  to  have  amounted  to  720  000.  Taking  these  differences  into  consideration,  caution  is  advised  when 
evaluating the data. The present analysis uses data from EurObserv’ER and IEA-PVPS  and completes where 
necessary with data from IRENA, namely for the global numbers. For the EU jobs of the different segments in 
the PV value chain, SPE data was used. 

Between 2008 and 2016, the PV sector suffered a dramatic decrease in jobs. The compound decrease in total 
PV jobs in the EU was 15 %. This decrease reflected a decrease of 8  %  for rooftop  and 23 % for  ground-
mounted applications. This is in part due to base effects, owing to the sudden increase in the number of PV jobs 
in 2008 in Spain for the installation of around 3 000 MWp of ground-mounted systems that were not maintained 
afterwards (EY, 2017). 

Globally, PV jobs reached 7.2 million at the end of 2023 (IEA PVPS, 2024b) from 5.8 million in 2022 (IRENA and 
ILO, 2023) (IEA-PVPS, 2023). EU’s PV jobs represented 10 % of the global PV jobs in 2023. EU’s position in the 
world for the number of total PV jobs between 2020 and 2023 is depicted in Figure 46. According to IEA-PVPS, 
China, that has the largest PV market in the world, accounted for 65 % of the world PV jobs in 2023 (4.6 million 
jobs) (IEA PVPS, 2024b). In 2020, the EU was in the 4th place globally, after China, the United States and Japan. 
However, in 2023, the EU conquered the 2nd position behind China. 

46 

 
 
Box 2. Differences in EU and global PV employment data (PV jobs). 

EU 

2020 

2021 

SolarPower Europe: 

357 000 

EurObserv’ER:  

IEA-PVPS:  

IRENA: 

165 700 

185 000 

166 000 

466 000 

223 100 

185 000 

236 000 

2022 

648 000 

346 900 

330 000 

517 000 

2023 

826 000 

Not available yet 

500 000 

719 900 

World 

IRENA:    

IEA-PVPS: 

2020 

2021 

2022 

2023 

3 980 000 

4 290 000 

4 900 000 

7 100 000 

3 980 000 

4 290 000 

5 800 000 

7 200 000 

Source:  (SolarPower  Europe,  2021a,  2022,  2023b,  2024a;  IEA-PVPS,  2021,  2022,  2023;  IRENA  and  ILO,  2021,  2022,  2023,  2024; 
EurObserv’ER, 2022, 2024a; IEA PVPS, 2024b) 

In 2023, the share of jobs in the upstream segment  was  26 % (vs.  74  % share of jobs in the downstream 
activities) (IEA PVPS, 2024b). A 2022 report from Fraunhofer ISE (Fraunhofer ISE, 2022) suggests that 7 500 
full-time equivalents (FTEs) are needed for the production of 10 GWp of PV generation assets from silicon ingot 
via wafer and cell to module, whereas the installation of 10 GWp of PV requires 46 500 FTEs, suggesting a 
standard ratio of 14 % for upstream versus 86 % for downstream activities (Fraunhofer ISE, 2022). In general, 
small scale PV generates more jobs than utility-scale PV (IEA-PVPS, 2023). 

Figure 46. Global direct and indirect PV jobs and EU share between 2020 and 2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (IEA-PVPS, 2019, 2020, 2021; IRENA and ILO, 2021; IEA-PVPS, 2022; IRENA and ILO, 2022; EurObserv’ER, 
2022; IEA-PVPS, 2023; IRENA and ILO, 2023)(EurObserv’ER, 2024a)(IRENA and ILO, 2024)(IEA PVPS, 2024b) 

Figure 47a and b present the disaggregated shares in the different segments of the PV value chain from 2020 
until 2023. Throughout the four previous years, the majority of EU jobs was on PV deployment, growing from 
80 % share in 2020 to 87 % in 2023 (Figure 47a). In the manufacturing segment, inverter manufacturing jobs 
grew from 46 % share in 2020 to 66 % share in 2023, while jobs in polysilicon manufacturing decreased from 
29 % share to 10 % share in the same years (Figure 47b). 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As far as PV jobs with relation to applications are concerned, in 2023, 68 % (from 73 % in 2022) of the jobs in 
the EU were for rooftop and 32 % for utility applications. The country with the highest proportion (68 %) of jobs 
in the utility-scale sector for 2023 was Spain. For rooftop applications, the highest proportion of jobs can be 
found in Italy and Romania (close to 85 %) as well as Poland, Germany, France and the Netherlands (close to 
70 %) (SolarPower Europe, 2024a). 

Figure 47. (a) Employment in PV value chain segments and (b) employment in manufacturing segment share between 
2020 and 2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (SolarPower Europe, 2023b)(SolarPower Europe, 2024a) 

As depicted in last year’s report (Chatzipanagi, 2022), there was a decrease in EU PV jobs between 2019 and 
2020, mainly due to the significant respective decreases which took place in Spain and France. The 2017 auction 
in Spain required that all installations be realised before the next one in 2019. For this reason, the number of 
PV-related jobs increased notably until 2019 but decreased again afterwards as the annual power installed 
decreased from about 5 GWp in 2019 to 3 GWp in 2020. As the annual PV installations increased between 2020 
and 2021 by 4.5 GWp, so did the related jobs by 33 %. Of course, it has to be noted that 2020 was the year 
when Covid-19 occurred and disruptions took place both in the upstream as well as the downstream activities. 
In absence of employment data for 2023 from EurObserv’ER, this report presents EU direct and indirect jobs 
based on SolarPower Europe (SPE) (Figure 48). Despite the difference in absolute numbers between SPE and 
EurObserv’ER (SPE reports double the PV jobs compared to EurObserv’ER due to the different assumptions in 
methodology), the ranking and share of EU countries is in good accordance between  the two different data 
sources, enabling a qualitative analysis of the EU situation. Most PV jobs have been created in Germany, the 
country with the biggest PV market and the largest installed PV power in the EU. For 2023, in Germany, the 
total number of jobs increased by 61 % compared to 2022. Germany is followed by Poland. Poland was the 
leading EU country in terms of PV jobs in 2021 and 2022 but decreased its PV jobs by 20 % in 2023 compared 
to 2022 mainly due to the country’s shift from residential to utility-scale installations. Nevertheless it still has 
a significantly strong PV jobs market in the EU. Favorable policies for residential installations have resulted in 
an 80 % increase of PV jobs in Italy between 2022 and 2023. 

Figure 48. EU direct and indirect PV jobs between 2020 and 2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on (SolarPower Europe, 2021b, 2022, 2023b, 2024a) 

48 

 
 
 
Regarding  projections  for  2028,  SPE  devised  3  different  scenarios.  These  are  the  low,  medium  and  high 
scenarios that are based on different assumptions20. Growth projections for 2028 range between a reduction 
of 19 % according to the low scenario and an increase of 70 % in PV jobs according to the high scenario. The 
medium scenario projects an increase of a bit more than 20 % PV jobs increase in 2028. 

According to SPE’s above-mentioned medium scenario jobs are expected to more than double in 2028 in the 
manufacturing sector, increase by 20 % in the deployment sector and by 87 % in the O&M sector. Jobs related 
to recycling activities are expected to grow by 89 % in 2027 (SolarPower Europe, 2024a). SPE also projects that 
the  portion  of  rooftop-related  jobs  will  decrease  from  68  %  in  2023  to  60  %  in  2028  (SolarPower Europe, 
2024a). 

In  the  manufacturing  sector,  according  to  (ETIP-PV,  2023),  the  number  of  employees  for  the  mg-Si  and 
polysilicon process are estimated at 144 and 672 full-time equivalent jobs, respectively and include operators, 
technicians  and  engineers,  with  operators  being  the  profession  with  the  highest  share  in  both  processes 
(approx. 75 %). For the rest of the manufacturing segments and considering a 10 GWp TOPCon manufacturing 
plant, for the ingot and the wafer processes, the number of jobs required are 1 715 and 1 808 respectively. For 
the cell and module production, the 1 441 and 3 179 full-time equivalent jobs are necessary. Again, operators 
make up for most of the jobs in comparison to technicians and engineers. Of course, it has to be noted that the 
level of automation is constantly increasing. Regarding the deployment sector, jobs may be less stable than in 
the manufacturing sector but can benefit local communities and economies. According to SPE, for a 10 MW p 
ground-mounted system 2-4 design engineers, 1-2 electricians and approx. 45 construction workers are needed. 
For a 10 kWp rooftop system 1 electrician and 4 construction workers are needed (SolarPower Europe, 2024a). 

One third of the total jobs in renewable energies is in the PV sector (IEA PVPS, 2024b). Women represent 40 % 
of the total employees in the PV sector, the highest share in all renewable energies and oil and gas sector. Most 
women  in  the  PV  sector  are  employed  in  administrative  positions  (58  %),  followed  by  non-STEM  (science, 
technology, engineering and mathematics) technical positions. The share of women in STEM jobs is 32 % (the 
global average is 35 %) (IRENA and ILO, 2023). 

Reskilling  and  upskilling  workers  is  fundamental  for  the  PV  sector,  as  many  workers  are  shortly  going  into 
retirement. At the same time, the needs for workers will continue to grow along with the planned manufacturing 
expansions as well as the planned installations in the next years. 

Concerns have risen over the years regarding forced labour particularly in the Uyghur Region in China, which 
now accounts for approximately 35 % of the world’s polysilicon (down from 45 %) and as much as 32 % of 
global metallurgical grade silicon production. The vast majority of modules produced globally continues to have 
exposure to the Uyghur Region (Crawford and Murphy, 2023). 

3.6  Energy intensity and labour productivity  

3.6.1  Energy intensity 

The Energy Return on Investment (EROI) (in terms of electricity) of different PV technologies and at different 
irradiation levels can be seen in Figure 49. The highest EROI is observed for the CdTe technology in the United 
States, whereas the lowest for CIGS PV systems in Japan. 

According to Fraunhofer ISE, in the past 24 years, the Energy Payback Time (EPBT) of PV has experienced a 
decrease of 12.8 %. Depending on the location and the technology used for the PV system, its EPBT can be as 
low  as  0.9  years  (South  Europe),  while  in  the  Northern  European  countries  it  slightly  exceeds  the  one  year 
(Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). EPBT for PV systems produced in Europe is shorter than for those produced in China 
because of better grid efficiency21 in Europe (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). Additional  information can be found in 
Annex  6.  Figure  50  shows  presents  an  EPBT  comparison  between  different  PV  technologies  at  different 
irradiation levels in different global locations. 

20 Low Scenario: policymakers halt solar support and other issues arise, including interest rate hikes and severe financial crisis situations. 
Medium Scenario: most likely development given the current state of play of the market. High Scenario: best optimal case in which 
policy support, financial conditions and other factors are enhanced. 

21 The higher, the better in countries where upstream production is located; (better energy mix to generate electrical power; less losses in 
the electrical transmission network). At downstream (where PV is installed) a low grid efficiency reduces the EPBT (Fraunhofer ISE, 
2023). 

49 

 
 
Figure 49. Energy Return on Investment of different technology PV systems, under three irradiation levels in different 
global locations. 

Figure 50. Energy Pay Back Times of different technology PV systems, assuming three irradiation levels in different 
global locations. 

Source: (Fthenakis and Leccisi, 2022) 

3.6.2  Labour productivity 

Source: (Fthenakis and Leccisi, 2022) 

The labour productivity of the entire PV value chain for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 is presented in 
Figure  51.  The  most  job-intensive  segments  along  the  upstream  PV  supply  chain  are  module  and  cell 
manufacturing.  Over  the  last  decade,  however,  the  use  of  automation  and  automated  guided  vehicles  has 
increased labour productivity, thereby reducing labour intensity (IEA, 2022b). Sweden has been has been the 
leader in PV labour productivity in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Germany demonstrates a stable labour productivity 
while Ireland and Luxemburg have demonstrated an increasing labour productivity in 2021 and 2022. 

50 

Figure 51. PV labour productivity in the EU between 2019 and 2022. 

3.7  EU Production Data 

Source: JRC analysis based on EurObserv’ER 

No  production  codes  are  explicitly  associated  with  photovoltaics.  The  selected  Prodcom 22  codes,  (Table  8) 
correspond  to  vague  product  groups  that  include  solar  cells,  semiconductor  devices  and  photovoltaic  cells. 
However, they can be used as a proxy for understanding the trends. 

Table 8. Prodcom codes as a proxy for PV production. 

HS code 

Description 

26114070 

Parts of diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices, 
photosensitive semiconductor devices and photovoltaic cells, light-
emitting diodes and mounted piezo-electric crystals 

Alias 

Semiconductors 

26112240  Photosensitive semiconductor devices; solar cells, photo-diodes, photo-

transistors, etc. 

Parts 

Source: JRC analysis based on PRODCOM 

Figure 52 shows the EU production in value. Over the past twelve years (2012-2023), the overall production 
value demonstrated a compound decrease of 7 % with an average value of EUR 2.4 billion. In 2023, the total 
value had a 16 % increase compared to the previous year, reaching EUR 2.1 billion. Semiconductors occupy the 
biggest share of the EU production value, while, in 2023, the production value of parts decreased by  -40%, 
reaching EUR 500 million. Germany and Italy were the top EU producers (Figure 53), holding one third of the 
total EU production together (three-year average), without Germany reporting its production value for 2023. 

Figure 52. EU production value per commodity for the period 2012-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on PRODCOM 

22 PRODuction COMmunautaire (Community Production) 

51 

 
 
 
 
Figure 53. Top five EU PV producers for the period 2012-2023. 

Source: JRC analysis based on PRODCOM 

52 

4  EU Market Position and Global Competitiveness 

4.1  Global & EU market leaders 

Figure 54 demonstrates EU’s position in different markets for the period 2020-2022. The horizontal axis shows 
the 2-year average of net import change from the EU and the vertical axis shows the 2-year average of the 
net import change from the rest of the world. Countries in quadrant I (above the horizontal axis and right of the 
vertical axis) are considered to have a growing market (increase of imports). Countries in quadrant III (below 
the horizontal axis and left of the vertical axis) have less imports. 

China’s market is experiencing rapid growth as it is the most cost-competitive location for the manufacturing 
of all PV components throughout the entire supply chain (IEA, 2022b). It is reported that costs in China are 10 % 
lower than in India, 30 % lower than in the United States and 60 % lower than in Europe. This is due to China’s 
lower energy, labour and investment costs, higher investments and implementation of vertical integration. These 
above mentioned cost differences may increase to 70 % for India, 100 % for the United States and 140 % for 
the EU by 2028 (IEA, 2024c). In Europe, rising energy prices following the geopolitical circumstances of years 
2021-2022 widened the cost gap with China. In 2022, EU industrial energy prices are more than triple those of 
China, India and the United States (IEA, 2022a). 

Figure 54. EU positioning in different markets with 2-year average (2020-2021 and 2021-2022) of change in import 
from the EU and RoW. 

Source: JRC based on UN Comtrade data 

In the EU, at the end of 2023, the polysilicon manufacturing was between 28 GWp and 29 GWp, depending on 
the source of information. The manufacturing capacity of ingots and wafers varied between 0 and 0.25 GWp, 
while that of cells between  1 GWp and  1.5  GWp. As far  as modules are concerned,  production  capacity  was 
determined between 8.5 GWp and 11 GWp (Figure 55) (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f; Fraunhofer ISE, 
2024; Sinovoltaics, 2024). However, taking into consideration the most recent announcements of closures and 
re-organisations ((S&P Global, 2024), the production capacity in the EU reduces to approx. 6 GWp, (the rest are 
characterised as unmodern sleeping module lines, not been operational in 2023). According to the European 
Solar Manufacturing Council’s (ESMC) estimations only around 2 GWp of PV modules were actually produced in 
2023, with 0.8–1 GWp of them remaining still in the manufacturers’ inventories unsold, while the surplus of 
imported modules is currently between 70 and 85 GWp (ESMC, 2024). 

The commissioned manufacturing facilities globally reached 963 GWp for polysilicon, 1 871 GWp for ingots and 
wafers,  994  GWp  for  cells  and  1  154  GWp  for  modules.  As  seen  also  in  Figure  56,  EU’s  market  share  is 
significantly small in polysilicon and module production and almost inexistent in ingot, wafer and cell production 
(Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f). 

In  2015  China  accounted  for  65  %  and  69  %  of  the  global  PV  cell  and  module  (crystalline  and  thin-film) 
production capacity respectively (IEA PVPS, 2016). In 2023, the country increased its share to 87 % and 82 % 
for  cell  and  module  production  capacity  respectively  while  the  EU  accounted  for  only  0.3  %  and  0.9 % 
respectively (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f). 

53 

Figure 55. PV manufacturing capacities in the EU in July 2024. 

Source: (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024) 

54 

Vietnam and Malaysia hold a significant and increasing share in cell and module manufacturing capacities (5 % 
of the global manufacturing for each in 2023 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f)) as countries in which 
major Chinese solar cell manufacturers have built production lines in an attempt to overcome the barrier of the 
USA antidumping duties and countervailing duties imposed on Chinese products (IEA-PVPS, 2023). 

Figure 56. Commissioned manufacturing capacities in the PV supply chain in 2023. 

Source: (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f) 

Figure 57 shows the shares of major PV economies regarding the manufacturing capacities under construction. 
The EU is stepping up with manufacturing plants accounting for 7 % of the global module capacities under 
construction.  India  holds a  23  %  share  in  the  same  segment  and China  a  61  %.  India  is constructing  more 
facilities for the production of cells, with a share of 10 % of the global total. On the other hand, the United 
States is investing on under construction capacities mostly for polysilicon (REC Silicon) and wafers (Bloomberg 
New Energy Finance, 2024f). 

Figure 57. Under construction manufacturing capacities share in the PV supply chain in 2023. 

Source: (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f) 

The announced future manufacturing capacities for different countries and regions in the different steps of the 
PV  chain  are  more  uncertain  as  they  are  highly  dependent  on  the  investment  availability, overcapacity  and 

55 

market competition. However, also in the case of future planned capacity additions, China is leading the way 
with  share  between  70  %  and  98  %  depending  on  the  segment.  The  United  States  plan  to  expand  their 
manufacturing capabilities in all segments, with a particular emphasis on cells and modules (6.5 % and 15.3 % 
of the global announced cell and module capabilities)  (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024f). According to 
Bloomberg, the EU plans on expansion for cell and module manufacturing capacities, accounting for almost 2 % 
and 3.5  %  of  the  global  announced  capabilities respectively  (Bloomberg  New  Energy  Finance,  2024f).  More 
recent information regarding the planned expansions in the EU include 2 GWp (0.7 % of global announcements) 
for ingots, 10 GWp (3.5 % of global announcements) for wafers, almost 20 GWp (5 % of global announcements) 
for cells and around 30 GWp (9.5 % of global announcements) for modules (Sinovoltaics, 2024). 

The global players in polysilicon, cell and module production are presented in Table 9.  

Table 9. Top five global manufacturers for polysilicon, wafer, cell and module production in the period 2020-2023. 

Company 

Tongwei 

GCL Tech 

DAQO 

TBEA (Xinte) 

Asia Silicon 

TCL Zhonghuan 

Longi 

Jinko 

GCL Tech 

JA Solar 

Tongwei 

Jinko 

Longi 

Trina Solar 

Aiko 

Jinko 

Longi 

Trina 

JA Solar 

Canadian Solar 

2020 

2021 

2022 

2023 

Polysilicon production (MT) 

86,195 

75,300 

77,288 

65,000 

22,000 

109,341 

104,506 

86,587 

78,200 

22,000 

266,900 

169,224 

133,812 

125,900 

50,000 

389,000 

232,256 

197,800 

191,300 

105,000 

Wafer production (GW) 

133.7 

127.5 

76 

51.1 

50.1 

80.8 

63.9 

55.0 

44.3 

40.1 

83.9 

72.8 

60.7 

60.0 

31.4 

21.4 

11.0 

18.0 

7.9 

13.3 

18.8 

26.6 

16.4 

15.9 

10.3 

Cell production (GWp) 

32.9 

13.0 

25.0 

18.9 

19.5 

49.2 

32.7 

36.2 

33.6 

33.7 

Module production (GWp) 

23.0 

38.5 

24.8 

25.8 

14.5 

45.0 

48.2 

45.4 

40.0 

21.1 

Source: (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e)(IEA PVPS, 2024b) 

The top five polysilicon producers are all Chinese and accounted for 73 % of the global polysilicon production 
in 2023. The German Wacker Chemie (7th in the top ten list) decreased its production share from 15 % in 2020 
to 4 % in 2023. Tongwei, the leading company in polysilicon manufacturing, increased its share from 19 % in 
2020 to 28 % in 2023. The global top five cell manufacturers accounted for 48 % of the cell production in 
2023, by producing 64 % more cells than in 2022. All companies in the top ten list are Chinese based companies 
and together accounted for 75 % of the global cell manufacturing. The top five module manufacturers present 
in Table 9 accounted for 50 % of the global module production in 2023, a rather stable share since 2020. These 
leading companies are all based in China apart from Canadian Solar which is headquartered in Canada but has 

56 

most of its factories in China. Canadian Solar maintained a stable 5 % of market share in 2023 (Bloomberg 
New Energy Finance, 2024e). 

Other major companies in the sector are Hanwha QCELLS (South Korea), First Solar (United States), BrightSource 
Energy,  Inc.  (U.S.),  SunPower  Corporation  (U.S.)23,  Yingli  Solar  (China),  Wuxi  Suntech  Power  Co.  Ltd.  (China), 
Waaree Group (India), AccionaEnergia S.A. (Spain), Nextera Energy Sources LLC (U.S.), Vivaan Solar (India), eSolar 
Inc. (U.S.), Tata PowerSolar Systems Ltd. (India) and Abengoa (Spain) (Fortune Business Insights, 2022). 

However, besides the actual manufacturing capacities, the utilisation rates24 in major countries and how they 
have evolved in the recent years are relevant for the analysis of the PV manufacturing landscape. Figure 58 
presents the utilisation rates in polysilicon, cell and module manufacturing in 2023. The following analysis may 
underestimate actual utilisation rates as not all decommissioned  production  capabilities are  considered and 
there may be differences on the nameplate capacities assumed (24/7 or one shift).  

Figure 58. Utilisation rates for (a) polysilicon, (b) cells and (c) modules in 2023. 

Source: (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e, 2024f) 

The most pronounced utilisation rate decrease is observed for polysilicon. The global polysilicon utilisation rate 
of  manufacturing  decreased  from 86  %  in  2022  to  61  %  in  2023  (decrease  of  29  %).  In  China  polysilicon 
manufacturing utilisation rates decreased from 91 % in 2022 to 61 % in 2023. The respective decrease for the 
EU was 22 %, from 81 % in 2022 to 63 % in 2023 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e, 2024f). 

Global utilisation rates in cell manufacturing  remained rather stable in the  past two years, around 60  % in 
2023.  Chinese  cell  manufacturing  utilisation  rate  experienced  an  11  %  decrease  between  2022  and  2023, 
similar to the global situation. India increased its utilisation rate by from 31 % in 2022 to 46 % in 2023 and 
Taiwan  exhibited  a  utilisation  rate  of  74  %  in  2023  from 64  %  in  2022    (Bloomberg  New  Energy  Finance, 
2024e, 2024f). 

The utilisation rate for module manufacturing in China was at 56 % in 2023, following a similar trend to that 
at global level (53 %). The IEA reports global actual utilisation rates of around 55 % globally for cell and module 
manufacturing  and  close  to  70 %  for  polysilicon  and  wafers  (IEA,  2024d,  2024a).  In  2023,  according  to 
projections, utilisation rates for modules, cells and wafers will be at 50 %, 55 % and 80 % respectively, while 
for  polysilicon  they  are  expected  to  decrease  to  65  %  (IEA, 2024d).  Based  on  ESMC’s estimations,  the  EU’s 
utilisation  rates in  module  manufacturing  in  2023  was  33  %  (approx.  2  GWp  actual  production  and approx. 
6 GWp  production  capacity)  (ESMC, 2024).  India  exhibited  a  37  %  utilisation  rate  for module  manufacturing 
(Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e, 2024f). 

As far as global PV inverter production is concerned, between 2019 and 2023, the segment experienced an 
approx. 50 % CAGR, from 123.4 GWAC in 2019 to 586.5 GWAC in 2023. This increase may be overestimated due 

23 Total Energies acquired a 60% stake in the company (all commercial and manufacturing activities) in 2011 but it remained listed as a 
US company (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-buy-sunpowers-commercial-industrial-business-250-mln-
2022-02-10/). 

24 Utilisation rate is the actual production compared to the production capability of the plants. 

57 

abcto non-disclosure of actual production volumes by the manufacturers. China led the way with a CAGR of 62 % 
and an increase in production share to 90 % in 2023 from 60 % in 2019. The EU on the other hand, saw its 
market share decreasing from 23 % in 2019 to 6 % in 2023 and a CAGR of only 7 % in the period 2019-2023. 
However, it must be noted that the above analysis is based on manufacturer’s headquarters and not necessarily 
manufacturing  location.  SMA  is  known  to  produce  its  smaller  single  phase  inverters  in  China  (SMA  China), 
opposed to the large 3 phase inverters that are produced in Germany (Solarquotes, 2017). The United States 
demonstrated  a  33  %  CAGR  for  the  period  2019-2023,  while  Israel,  with  a  market  share  of  2  %  in  2023 
experienced a CAGR increase of 23 % (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e). 

The  top  ten  of  inverter  companies  includes  nine  Chinese  companies  and  only  one  European,  namely  SMA 
(Germany) (Figure 59). In 2023, the top two companies, Huawei and Sungrow, with annual inverter productions 
of 160 GWAC and 150 GWAC respectively, accounted for half of the PV inverter production, whereas, the top ten 
for 82 %. SMA accounted for only 3 % of the global PV inverter production in 2023, from a 6 % in 2021. The 
German company’s CAGR for the period 2021-2023 was 23 %. The Chinese company Huawei exhibited a CAGR 
of 75 % for the same period (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e). 

Figure 59. PV inverter production by manufacturers for the period 2020-2023. 

Source: (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2024e) 

Between 2019 and 2023, the EU domestically produced PV modules could not compete with the Chinese ones. 
Despite the announcement of several energy policies, such as the Green Deal Industrial Plan (GDIP) and the Net 
Zero Industry Act (NZIA), that aim to boost the domestic manufacturing and decrease dependency on China, the 
EU imported from China a 88 GWp capacity of PV modules between 2021 and 2022 (EMBER, 2024a) (96 % 
increase  of  imports)  but  managed  to  install  less  than  half, remaining  therefore  with  47  GWp  of  PV  module 
stacked in warehouses. In 2023 the EU imports from China amounted to 102 GWp, an increase of 16 % from 
2022  (EMBER,  2024a).  The  annual  EU  deployment  in  2023  was  55  GWp,  thus  remaining  with  a  surplus  of 
another 47 GWp in 2023. At the same time, EU manufacturers have around 1 GWp of PV modules remaining in 
their inventories (ESMC, 2024). The manufacturing boom in China and the created overcapacity have decreased 
costs to unprecedented low levels with manufacturer selling at prices even below their production cost. The 
market  pressures  will  inevitably  bring  to  bankruptcy  several  companies  in  the  sector  globally,  before  its 
stabilisation. Module prices are expected to stabilise in the end of 2024 or early 2025 (PV Magazine, 2024b). 
However, the coveted European re-build of PV manufacturing is threatened as a result of the created oversupply 
and continuous lowering prices of Chinese PV modules. As several European companies have either bankrupted 
and  ceased  production  or  reduced  significantly  their  capacities  and/or  flee  to  other  countries  with  more 
favourable market and investment conditions, in September 2023, the European Solar PV Alliance released a 
document with recommendations regarding the financial mechanisms to fill the cost gap and restore the PV 
industry in Europe (ESMC, 2023). 

The value chain disruptions experienced in the previous years as well as the concentration of supply in China 
has led major economies to adopt manufacturing policies in an effort to diversify their supply chain and boost 
their domestic manufacturing capabilities. The United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), India’s Product Linked 
Incentive (PLI) Scheme and EU’s Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) are expected to increase PV production capabilities 
outside China, however this might not be sufficient (Financial Times, 2024) and China could maintain its 80 % 
- 90  %  (depending  on  the  segment)  global  share  in  2030  (IEA,  2024d).  In  addition,  several  countries  have
introduced  non-price  criteria  into  PV  utility-scale  project  auctions  as  policy  measures  to  boost  supply  chain

58 

diversification, local economic development and the sustainability of imported or domestically manufactured 
equipment  used.  More  in  particular  and  regarding  the  major  PV  economies,  India  has  introduced  the 
prequalification criterion that the modules can originate from producers on the Approved List of Models and 
Manufacturers (for the moment the list features companies with manufacturing capacities only in India) (IEA, 
2024d). At EU level, through the NZIA,  sets mandatory non-price criteria, namely the auction's sustainability 
and resilience contribution, cybersecurity, responsible business conduct, and ability to deliver projects fully and 
on time (European Commission, 2024a). Other prequalification criteria at Member State level are already in 
place (IEA, 2024d). 

4.2  Trade (Import/export) and trade balance 

In  2023,  the  EU  imports  of  photovoltaic  cells25  shrunk  by  12  %  compared  to  2022,  reaching  almost 
EUR 20 billion, equally reducing the trade deficit at about EUR 19 billion (Figure 60). In 2021-2023, the extra-
EU share in global exports (3 %) and imports from outside the EU (31 %) remained similar to the levels of last 
year’s report (2020-2022) (Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-Waldau, Cleret de Langavant, et al., 2023). 

Figure 60. Extra-EU trade for photovoltaic cells for the period 2013-2023 (monetary). 

Source: JRC based on COMEXT data 

In terms of quantities, in 2023, the EU imports saw a small increase of 5 %, reaching almost 4.6 MT, compared 
to 4.4 MT in 2022 (Figure 61). This shows a -16% drop in the cost of imports from EUR 5.15 /kg to EUR 4.32 /kg 
or from EUR 0.26 /W to EUR 0.22 /W26, which is in line with the average price for mainstream PV modules in the 
EU (SolarPower Europe, 2024c). 

Figure 61. Extra-EU trade for photovoltaic cells for the period 2013-2023 (weight). 

Source: JRC based on COMEXT data 

In 2021-2023, China remained the main importing partner holding 94 % of total extra-EU imports in value 
(98 % in 2023), while the EU exported mainly to the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States (Figure 
62a and b). 

25 As of 2022 (Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-Waldau, Cleret De Langavant, et al., 2023): 

854140 [Photosensitive semiconductor devices, incl. photovoltaic cells whether or not assembled in modules or made up into panels; light emitting diodes 

  (excl. photovoltaic generators)] is discontinued 

854190 [Photosensitive semiconductor devices, incl. photovoltaic cells] has been restructured to “Parts, diodes, transistors” 
854142 [Photovoltaic cells not assembled in modules or made up into panels] is newly introduced 
854143 [Photovoltaic cells not assembled in modules or made up into panels] is newly introduced 

26 When assuming an average power-to-weight ratio of 20W/kg, https://www.goosolarpower.com/2023/06/solar-panel-weigh-size.html 

59 

Figure 62. Top five countries (a) importing from and (b) exporting to the EU for the period 2021-2023. 

Source: JRC based on COMEXT data 

The  EU  maintained  its  presence  amongst  the  top  ten  global  exporters  and  importers  (Figure  63a  and  b). 
Germany  climbed  up  one  rank  in  the  top  exporters  and  importers  ranking.  The  Netherlands  advanced  four 
positions among the top exporters and one among the top importers. Portugal also appeared among the top 
global importers. 

Figure 63. Top ten global (a) importers and (b) exporters for the period 2021-2023. 

Source: JRC based on COMTRADE data 

Since 2021, no Member State has a positive trade balance. In 2021-2023, Germany brought 78 % of its extra-
EU imports from China, while 52 % of its total imports were from Netherlands. However, Netherlands brought 
95 % of its extra-EU imports from China (89 % of its total imports) for the same period. 

Regarding the growing markets27 during 2020-202228, Brazil had the largest net import increase followed by 
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. However, the EU failed to capture any of those three growing markets. 
The EU captured only the market in UK with a 24 % share of imports, losing ground compared to the 36 % of 
the previous study (2019-2021) (Table 10). 

Table 10. Growing markets based on a 2-year average of net import change. 

Country 

Brazil 

Turkey 

United Arab Emirates 

United Kingdom 

Australia 

Total import (2020-2022) 
[EUR Million] 

% import from 
the EU 

2-year average of
net import change

7 132 

1 960 

1 145 

1 586 

3 757 

0% 

3% 

1% 

24% 

1% 

1 379 

446 

367 

202 

202 

27 Calculated as 𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 =   [(𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡2021 −   𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡2020) + (𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡2022 −   𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡2021)] 2⁄  
28 Latest year data (2023) may be incomplete for Comtrade, because it does not provide estimates for the missing values as Comext does. 

60 

Country 

Other Asia, nes 

Philippines 

Canada 

Pakistan 

Thailand 

India 

Total import (2020-2022) 
[EUR Million] 

% import from 
the EU 

2-year average of
net import change

3 258 

1 778 

1 261 

1 147 

3 359 

6 289 

5% 

5% 

7% 

0% 

1% 

0% 

192 

126 

31 

27 

25 

15 

Source: JRC based on COMTRADE data 

4.3  Resource efficiency and dependence in relation to EU competitiveness 

The consumption of raw materials for PV panel manufacturing is expected to increase drastically in the next 
years due to the massive deployment of the photovoltaic technology. However, projections regarding the raw 
materials demand in 2030 and 2050 are difficult to perform and they are strongly dependent on the generation 
capacity and lifetime of the deployed infrastructure, the market share of each sub-technology and the material 
usage intensity. 

The European Commission’s proposal for the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) (European Commission, 2023c), 
identifies and distinguishes between strategic raw materials (SRMs), that are essential according to the demand 
projections, and the critical raw materials (CRMs), that pose a high risk of supply disruption and are considered 
important for the EU’s competitiveness. 

The EU’s dependency on China, a leading producer and user of many critical minerals (including rare earths), 
for critical materials used in the PV value chain must be taken seriously into consideration. 

The materials that have a high supply risk and are defined as CRMs for the EU are silicon metal, gallium, and 
borates while copper, cadmium, selenium, silver, aluminium, indium and tellurium are considered materials with 
a  lower  supply  risk  (Carrara  et  al.,  2023).  In  the  same  report,  the  authors  identify  the  supply  risk  for  the 
processed materials as high for the crystalline technology due to China’s domination and as lower for the thin-
film technologies. The components segment is characterised by the highest supply risk and in fact, the EU is 
importing over 90 % of the main components of solar modules, mainly wafers and solar cells (PVEurope, 2022). 
The  final  assembly  is  characterised  by  higher  risk  for  the  crystalline  silicon  than  for  the  thin-film  modules 
(Carrara et al., 2023). 

However, the above-mentioned analysis that identifies a high-risk supply of primary raw materials does not 
directly influence the EU since it is currently importing the final product (e.g. cadmium telluride) rather than the 
primary raw materials (e.g. tellurium). However, it will become crucially relevant in the short-term given the 
planned large-scale EU domestic PV manufacturing. 

Other primary raw materials reported as potentially critical for the EU’s  dependency due to the imports are 
boron, molybdenum, phosphorus, tin and zinc (European Commission, 2022d). 

As  far  as  the  future  consumption  of  raw  primary  materials  is  concerned,  the  projections  for  2050  show  a 
variation between the different materials depending on the scenarios (low and high demand) and the market 
share  of  each  technology.  Taking  into  account  that  the  crystalline  technology  will  remain  the  dominant  PV 
technology in the forthcoming years, the projections for 2030 report that the silicon and silver demand will 
increase 1.8 times compared to 2020. The increase in demand in 2050 (compared to 2020) will be 1.4 times 
for silicon and silver, reflecting the accomplished material efficiency (Carrara et al., 2023). Copper demand will 
increase by 2 and 2.3 times compared to 2020 in the years 2030 and 2050 respectively. Other projections 
report that the demand for silicon, for the Net Zero emissions by 2050 scenario, will be 1.7 times the 2022 
demand. For copper, the respective demand for 2050 will be 2.5 times the 2022 demand (IEA, 2023). 

The  use  of  silver  for  connections  has  been  identified  as  a  potential  concern.  The  expected  large-scale 
manufacturing activity in the next few years may render this concern more  concrete and therefore there is 

61 

continuous R&D for the minimisation of silver use as well as material substitution like copper. In addition, even 
though crystalline silicon will remain a key component of solar technology in the coming years, the possibility 
to resort to alternative technologies to achieve higher efficiencies and/or substitute currently critical materials 
should be assessed with perspicacity in order to avoid favouring one material over the other and creating other 
material dependencies (for example the current supply availability of tellurium, indium and germanium may 
get  into  distress  in  the  future  if  we  deliberately  choose  to  favour  thin-film  technologies  over  silicon-based 
technologies for material dependency reasons (European Commission, 2022f). 

Particular attention is needed regarding PV glass that is lacking in the EU and has to be imported in massive 
volumes. A major exporter of PV  glass to the EU is China and the cost is high  due to the custom duties. In 
addition, the manufacturing of solar glass is particularly energy-intensive and therefore also costly and this 
may limit investment initiatives from companies already in the sector or new players attempting to enter the 
market. 

Overall, modern module designs using circular manufacturing concepts and material reduction for the balance 
of system is of equal importance to achieve the required growth of the PV industry (Jäger-Waldau, 2024). 

62 

5  Conclusions 

Photovoltaics (PV) has been the fastest-growing technology for electricity generation from renewable energies 
in  the  past  decade.  It  is  an  already  mature  technology,  indispensable  in  achieving  the  targets  set  by  the 
European  Green  Deal  (EGD)  to  tackle  climate  change  and,  at  the  same  time,  accomplish  the  EU’s  energy 
transition. 

The global cumulative PV installed capacity exceeded 1.6 TWp in 2023 and estimates for 2024 vary from a 
shrinking market to a significant increase to over 550 GWp, which would bring the total cumulative installed PV 
capacity to over 2 TWp. The EU alone reached a cumulative installed PV capacity 271 GWp at the end of 2023 
and a cumulative electricity generation of approx. 230 TWh from PV systems. According to projections, the EU 
capacity will increase to approx. 400 GWp in 2025, between 650 GWp and 1 TWp in 2030 and between 7 TWp 
and 8.8 TWp in 2050, whereas the projected global installed capacity will increase between 4.3-6 TWp in 2030 
and 22-60 TWp in 2050. 

The average PV module efficiency has increased from 9.0 % in 1980 to 14.7 % in 2010 and 21.8 % in 2023. 
In  the  next  few  years,  silicon-based  PV  technology  will  remain  the  predominant  technology  with  module 
efficiencies reaching 24.0 % and over. As a possible future alternative to silicon, perovskite technology has 
developed rapidly and has the potential to achieve comparable costs (current module efficiency is 19.2 % while 
the record cell efficiency is 25.2 ± 0.8 %). Two of the most promising and efficient technologies are silicon-
based tandems with III-V top material (currently at 32.65 ± 0.7 % module efficiency) and perovskite-silicon 
tandem devices. The market’s tendency towards the replacement of Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) 
architecture (currently at ~21 % module efficiency with projections reaching 22 % in 2034) by the n-type Tunnel 
Oxide  Passivated  Contact  (TOPCon)  (currently  at  23  %  module  efficiency  with  projections  reaching  24  %  in 
2034) is bringing further efficiency increases. Heterojunction modules are expected to exceed efficiencies of 
24 % (currently around 23 %) by 2034, while modules with silicon-based tandem cells may reach over 30 % 
efficiency  by  2034.  Continuous research  and  improvement  are  required  to  achieve  such  higher  efficiencies, 
combined with lower material consumption and lower costs.  

The Energy Payback Time (EPBT) of a PV system in Southern Europe is one year, whereas in Northern Europe 
less than a year and a half. Nonetheless, it is also of paramount importance that the PV sector further reduces 
its environmental footprint and becomes more circular along the entire PV value chain.  

The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCoE) from photovoltaics and electricity storage has decreased significantly 
in the past years. The global weighted-average LCoE for utility-scale projects fell by 90 % between 2010 and 
2023 from USD 417/MWh to USD 45/MWh. Projections for the EU indicate that it will further decrease from the 
2024 values of EUR 53/MWh (Northern Europe) and EUR 30/MWh (Southern Europe) to EUR 30/MWh (Northern 
Europe)  and  EUR  18/MWh  (Southern  Europe)  in  2050,  rendering  PV  technology  as  a  competitive  renewable 
energy technology. 

EU PV companies are facing considerable competition, especially from China, which has a leading market in PV 
and exhibits minimal dependence on the EU. Most of the leading solar cell and module production companies 
are Chinese and they dominate the PV module shipments.  

Almost all leading solar cell and module production companies are Chinese and they dominate the PV module 
shipments. In 2023, China accounted for 87 % (from 65 % in 2015) of the global cell production and 82 % 
(from 69 % in 2015) of the global module production. The respective share for the EU was 0.3 % for cells and 
0.9 % for  modules. However, to the above  mentioned  shares, it is essential to consider that manufacturing 
utilisation rates have decreased considerably in 2023. The most pronounced decrease occurred in the polysilicon 
segment  (61  %  in  2023  against  86  %  in  2022  globally).  More  in  particular,  China  changed  its  polysilicon 
utilisation rate from 91 % in 2022 to 61 % in 2023, while the EU decreased from 81 % in 2022 to 63 % in 
2023. The global utilisation rate for cell manufacturing remained rather stable, around 60 %. The global module 
manufacturing utilisation rate in 2023 was 53 %, whereas the EU was 33 %. 

For 2023, the top five module manufacturing companies, include four Chinese and one Canadian company and 
they accounted for 50 % of the global module production. 

With regard to manufacturing capacities under construction, the EU is investing mostly in module capacities, 
accounting  for  7  %  of  the  global  module  capacities  under  construction  and  remains  behind  in  the  other 
segments. China’s under construction capacities range between 60-96 % (depending on the segment) of the 
global total. China is expected to maintain its dominance in market share of global supply chains (80-95 % 
depending on the segment). 

63 

Additionally, the costs for PV manufacturing in China are considerably lower than in other regions. According to 
a 2022 IEA report, costs in China are 10 % lower than in India, 30 % lower than in the United States, and 60 % 
lower than in Europe. The Agency draws attention to the possibility that these cost differences will increase to 
70 % for India, 100 % for the United States and 140 % for the EU by 2028, despite the adopted policies aiming 
to strengthen their domestic manufacturing market. 

EU’s recent competitiveness regarding the inverter market has suffered a considerable hit in 2022 as more 
Chinese  companies  have  entered  the  market  and  surpassed  the  European  companies  in  market  share.  The 
European companies SMA (Germany) and Power Electronics (Spain) reduced their combined market share from 
14 % in 2018 to 7 % in 2022. In 2023, SMA held a 3 % share of the global inverter production, whereas Huawei 
and Sungrow (top two global inverter manufacturers), accounted for half of the PV inverter production. The EU 
saw its market share in inverter manufacturing decrease from 23 % in 2019 to 6 % in 2023. 

China’s  impressive  manufacturing  capacity  expansions  are  enabled  by,  firstly,  better  access  to  the  capital 
needed for capacity expansions and second, faster permitting for new factories as well as faster construction 
and ramp-up times.  

The EU hosts almost one-fourth of the innovators in the field of PV and is leading in high-value patents and 
produces highly cited publications. 

Recent  scientific  findings  suggest  that  global  warming  needs  to  be  limited  to  1.5˚C  and  therefore  more 
ambitious decarbonisation and renewable energy targets are needed. The current ambitions for PV in the EU 
are  not  sufficient  enough  to  effectively  contribute  to  the  necessary  future  renewable  energy  supply.  PV 
deployment to achieve these ambitions needs to come through innovative forms of deployment (agrivoltaics, 
floating photovoltaics,  dual use of traffic infrastructure, vehicle integrated photovoltaics, etc.) in addition to 
traditional deployment (utility-scale and rooftop). 

The  already  announced  support  schemes  for  solar  PV  manufacturing  in  Europe,  attempting  to  boost  EU’s 
domestic manufacturing capacities and rebuilt its competitiveness in the global PV value chain, are encouraging, 
but not in line with the global market growth (projections refer to over 5.8 TWp of PV installed capacity globally 
and over 1 TWp in the EU by 2030). The establishment of a resilient supply chain in connection to the EU PV 
manufacturing base is of primary importance. Last, but certainly not least, the political interest and promotion 
for manufacturing expansion will play a significant role. 

The  current  trend  of  the  EU  market  shows  that  it  is  growing  faster  than  anticipated  in  the  2022  EU  Solar 
Strategy Communication. As the overall global demand for PV components is growing even faster than in the 
EU and trade frictions can occur, precaution has to be taken to avoid a fallout of international supply chain 
disruptions on the deployment of PV in the EU. To hedge such a risk, the EU value chain should be able to supply 
at least 25-35 % of the EU market. At the moment, this is possible for the production of polysilicon, backsheets, 
contact materials, inverters and balance of system components. Additional new capacities for wafers, cells and 
solar glass production are needed.  

The  geo-political  situation  spurs  the  acceleration  of  EU’s  energy  independence  and  climate  neutrality  and 
together  with  the  promising  market  grow  will  give  the  EU  PV  industry  the  opportunity  to  re-emerge  more 
competitive in the next years and possibly play a leading role in international PV markets. 

64 

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List of abbreviations and definitions 

General 

BoS 

CAPEX 

Comext 

CPC 

CRM 

CSP 

EC 

EGD 

EPC 

EPBT 

EROC 

EROI 

ESIA 

ESMC 

ETIP-PV 

EU 

EU ETS 

Extra-EU  

FTE 

FWCI 

GDP 

GDIP 

GHG 

GVA 

H2020 

IF 

IPCC 

ITRPV 

Intra-EU  

IRENA 

IWG 

JRC 

LCA 

LCEO 

LCoE 

MS 

Balance of System 

Capital Expenditure 

Statistical database on trade of goods managed by Eurostat 

Cooperative Patent Classification 

Critical Raw Material 

Concentrated Solar Power 

European Commission 

European Green Deal 

Engineering, Procurement and Construction 

Energy Payback Time 

Energy Return On Carbon invested 

Energy Return On energy Invested 

European Solar Industry Alliance 

European Solar Manufacturing Council 

European Technology and Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics 

European Union 

European Union Emission Trading System 

Transactions with all countries outside of the European Union 

Full-Time Equivalent 

Field Weighted Citation Impact 

Gross Domestic Product 

Green Deal Industrial Plan 

Greenhouse Gases 

Gross Value Added 

Horizon 2020 funding programme 

Innovation Fund 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic 

Transactions within the European Union 

International Renewable Energy Agency 

Implementation Working Group 

Joint Research Centre 

Life-Cycle Analysis 

Low Carbon Energy Observatory 

Levelised Cost of Electricity 

Member State 

NREPBT 

Non Renewable Energy Payback Time 

73 

NZIA 

O&M 

OPEX 

Net Zero Industry Act 

Operation and Maintenance 

Operational Expenditure 

Prodcom 

PRODuction COMmunautaire (Community Production) 

PV 

RED 

R&D 

R&I 

Photovoltaics 

Renewables Energy Directive 

Research and Development 

Research and Innovation 

SET-Plan 

Strategic Energy Technology Plan 

SPE 

SRIA 

SRM 

STEM 

TIM 

TRL 

Solar Power Europe 

Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 

Strategic Raw Material 

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 

Tools for Information Monitoring 

Technology Readiness Level 

UN Comtrade 

United Nations International Trade Statistics Database 

VC 

WACC 

Venture Capital 

Weighted Average Costs of Capital 

Technical 

AC 

a-Si

CdTe 

CI(G)S 

CO2eq 

DC 

gCO2eq

HJT 

Alternating current 

Amorphous silicon 

Cadmium Telluride 

Copper Indium (Gallium) Selenide 

Carbon dioxide equivalent 

Direct current 

Grams of CO2 equivalent 

Heterojunction technology 

mono c-Si 

Mono-crystalline silicon 

MT 

OPV 

PERC 

PERT 

Pks 

poly c-Si  

TOPCon 

TWp 

TWh 

Mega tonne 

Organic Photovoltaics 

Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact 

Passivated Emitter Rear Totally diffused 

Perovskites 

Poly-crystalline Silicon 

Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact 

Terra Watt peak 

Terra Watt hour 

74 

W 

WAC

WDC

Wp 

Wh 

Watt 

Watt alternating current 

Watt direct current 

Watt peak 

Watt hour 

75 

List of boxes 

Box 1. Uncertainty in reported capacity numbers. .................................................................................................................................... 19 

Box 2. Differences in EU and global PV employment data (PV jobs). .......................................................................................... 47 

76 

List of figures 

Figure 1. Global cumulative photovoltaic installations for the period 2010-2023. ........................................................... 11 

Figure 2. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the monocrystalline and 
polycrystalline silicon PV modules. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 12 

Figure 3. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the thin-film PV modules. ................... 13 

Figure 4. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the perovskite PV modules................. 14 

Figure 5. Technology targets, research priorities and respective TRLs for the multi-junction PV modules. ....... 14 

Figure 6. Global and EU cumulative PV electricity production with EU share for the period 2013-2023. .......... 17 

Figure 7. EU PV cumulative electricity generation per country for the period 2013-2023. .......................................... 18 

Figure 8. Cumulative global and EU PV installed capacity with EU and China shares for the period 2013-
2023. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 

Figure 9. EU PV cumulative installed capacity per country for the period 2013-2023. .................................................. 20 

Figure 10. Projections of gross installed capacity and electricity generation in the EU.................................................. 21 

Figure 11. Global average overnight investment cost and installed PV capacity of the power system for 
small/residential and utility-scale. ....................................................................................................................................................................... 21 

Figure 12. Gross electricity production for small/residential and utility-scale and share of gross electricity 
production. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 

Figure 13. Spot market price trends for poly-Si, mono-Si wafers, cells and modules between 2018 and 2022.
 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 

Figure 14. Large-scale system component costs in 2022 and projections. ............................................................................ 24 

Figure 15. Capital cost projections for rooftop, commercial, industrial and utility-scale PV installations for 
2030-2050. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 25 

Figure 16. PV LCoE at six European locations with different nominal WACCs for 5 kWp residential rooftop PV 
installation. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 

Figure 17. PV LCoE at six European locations with different nominal WACCs for 50 kWp commercial rooftop 
PV installation. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 26 

Figure 18. PV LCoE at six European locations with different nominal WACCs for 1 MWp industrial PV 
installation. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 

Figure 19. PV LCoE five European locations with different nominal WACCs for 100 MWp utility-scale PV 
installation compared with average spot market electricity price of 2019-2021. ............................................................... 27 

Figure 20. LCoE as a function of solar irradiance and retail prices in key PV markets. .................................................. 27 

Figure 21. (a) EU and global public investments in Solar and PV R&D, (b) EU and (c) global allocation of solar 
energy technologies for the period 2012-2022.......................................................................................................................................... 28 

Figure 22. (a) EU public investments per MS and (b) EU public investments and % of GDP in Solar and R&D 
for the top five MS for the period 2012-2022. ........................................................................................................................................... 28 

Figure 23. Global public investments per country in Solar and R&D for the period 2012-2022. ............................. 29 

Figure 24. EU and global private investments in PV for the period 2010-2020. ................................................................ 29 

Figure 25. EU and global cumulative private investments in PV for the period 2010-2020. ...................................... 30 

Figure 26. (a) EU cumulative private investments in PV per MS and (b) global cumulative private investments 
in PV EU and top five countries for the period 2010-2020. ................................................................................................................ 30 

Figure 27. EU and global total Venture Capital (VC) investments for the period 2012-2023. ................................... 31 

77 

Figure 28. Top ten countries total Venture Capital (VC) investments for all stages for the periods 2012-2017 
and 2018-2023. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 32 

Figure 29. Number of inventions and share of high-value and international activity for the period 2019-
2021. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 

Figure 30. (a) Number of high-value Inventions between 2010 and 2021 and (b) Top ten countries with high-
value inventions for the period 2019-2021. ................................................................................................................................................. 33 

Figure 31. International protection of high-value inventions for the period 2019-2021. ............................................. 35 

Figure 32. EU publications on PV (a) technologies, (b) systems and (c) applications for the period 2013-2023.
 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 

Figure 33. Global publications on perovskites for the period 2013-2023. .............................................................................. 36 

Figure 34. Global highly cited publications on perovskites and EU position for the period 2013-2023. ............. 37 

Figure 35. EU funding contribution for the period 2014-2025. ...................................................................................................... 38 

Figure 36. Transfer of the 2017 PV Implementation Plan activities to the 2023 PV Implementation Plan 
activities. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39 

Figure 37. EU contribution per (a) PV technology and (b) application. ....................................................................................... 40 

Figure 38. EU turnover in PV for the period 2015-2022. ................................................................................................................... 42 

Figure 39. EU turnover in PV for the top EU countries for the period 2018-2022. ............................................................ 42 

Figure 40. Turnover in PV for the top five EU countries for the period 2015-2022. ........................................................ 43 

Figure 41. (a) Absolute and (b) share of turnover along the upstream (polysilicon to module) value chain for 
major economies in 2023.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 43 

Figure 42. Gross Value Added (GVA) in PV for the top ten EU countries for the period 2019-2022. .................... 44 

Figure 43. Carbon footprint of different PV module configurations in different countries. ......................................... 44 

Figure 44. PV value chain structure. ................................................................................................................................................................. 45 

Figure 45. Innovating companies in the period 2017-2023. ............................................................................................................ 46 

Figure 46. Global direct and indirect PV jobs and EU share between 2020 and 2023. .................................................. 47 

Figure 47. (a) Employment in PV value chain segments and (b) employment in manufacturing segment share 
between 2020 and 2023. .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 48 

Figure 48. EU direct and indirect PV jobs between 2020 and 2023............................................................................................ 48 

Figure 49. Energy Return on Investment of different technology PV systems, under three irradiation levels in 
different global locations. .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 50 

Figure 50. Energy Pay Back Times of different technology PV systems, assuming three irradiation levels in 
different global locations. .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 50 

Figure 51. PV labour productivity in the EU between 2019 and 2022. ..................................................................................... 51 

Figure 52. EU production value per commodity for the period 2012-2023. .......................................................................... 51 

Figure 53. Top five EU PV producers for the period 2012-2023. .................................................................................................. 52 

Figure 54. EU positioning in different markets with 2-year average (2020-2021 and 2021-2022) of change 
in import from the EU and RoW. ............................................................................................................................................................................ 53 

Figure 55. PV manufacturing capacities in the EU in July 2024. ................................................................................................... 54 

Figure 56. Commissioned manufacturing capacities in the PV supply chain in 2023. ..................................................... 55 

Figure 57. Under construction manufacturing capacities share in the PV supply chain in 2023. ............................. 55 

Figure 58. Utilisation rates for (a) polysilicon, (b) cells and (c) modules in 2023............................................................... 57 

78 

Figure 59. PV inverter production by manufacturers for the period 2020-2023. ............................................................... 58 

Figure 60. Extra-EU trade for photovoltaic cells for the period 2013-2023 (monetary). .............................................. 59 

Figure 61. Extra-EU trade for photovoltaic cells for the period 2013-2023 (weight). ..................................................... 59 

Figure 62. Top five countries (a) importing from and (b) exporting to the EU for the period 2021-2023. ........ 60 

Figure 63. Top ten global (a) importers and (b) exporters for the period 2021-2023. ................................................... 60 

79 

List of tables 

Table 1. CETO SWOT analysis for the competitiveness of photovoltaics. .....................................................................................8 

Table 2. Yearly average module efficiencies for the period 2013-2023. ................................................................................. 12 

Table 3. EU spot market module prices by technology in September 2024. .......................................................................... 23 

Table 4. Global top ten entities with high-value inventions in PV for the period 2019-2021. .................................... 34 

Table 5. EU top ten entities with high-value inventions in PV for the period 2019-2021. ............................................ 34 

Table 6. EU contribution per 2023 SET Plan PV IWG priorities. ....................................................................................................... 39 

Table 7. EU funding in EUR million and number of projects () with starting and target TRLs for 87 EU funded 
projects. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 40 

Table 8. Prodcom codes as a proxy for PV production. ......................................................................................................................... 51 

Table 9. Top five global manufacturers for polysilicon, wafer, cell and module production in the period 2020-
2023. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 56 

Table 10. Growing markets based on a 2-year average of net import change. ................................................................... 60 

80 

Annexes 
Annex 1 Summary Table of Data Sources for the CETO Indicators 

Theme 

Indicator 

Main data source 

Technology maturity 
status, development and 
trends 

Technology readiness level 

ITRPV, IEA-PVPS, Fraunhofer ISE, SNETP, 
scientific publications, EC reports, various 

Installed capacity & energy 
production 

Technology costs 

Eurostat, IRENA, Ember, JRC, IEA-PVPS 

IRENA, ITRPV, ETIP-PV, Bernreuter Research, JRC, 
various 

Public and private RD&I funding 

IEA, JRC 

Patenting trends 

EPO Patstat, JRC 

Scientific publication trends 

JRC 

Assessment of R&I project 
developments 

CINEA, DG RTD 

Value chain analysis 

Turnover 

IEA-PVPS, EurObserv’ER 

Gross Value Added 

EurObserv’ER 

Environmental and socio-
economic sustainability 

Scientific publications, JRC, various 

EU companies and roles 

Pitchbook, Fraunhofer, various 

Employment 

IRENA, EurObserv’ER, SolarPower Europe, 
Fraunhofer ISE, scientific publications, IEA-PVPS 

Energy intensity and labour 
productivity 

Scientific publications, various 

EU industrial production 

Prodcom, JRC 

Global markets and EU 
positioning 

Global market growth and 
relevant short-to-medium term 
projections 

Various 

EU market share vs third 
countries share, including EU 
market leaders and global 
market leaders 

Comtrade, IEA-PVPS, Bloomberg NEF, various 

EU trade (imports, exports) and 
trade balance 

ESMC, Comext, UN Comtrade, JRC 

Resource efficiency and 
dependencies (in relation EU 
competiveness) 

JRC, various 

81 

Annex 2 Countries, regions and continents coding 

WORLD 

CODE 

BR 

CA 

CN 

CH 

EU 

HK 

IL 

IN 

JP 

KR 

MY 

RoW 

SG 

TW 

UK 

US 

VN 

COUNTRY 

Brazil 

Canada 

China 

Switzerland 

European Union 

Hong Kong 

Israel 

India 

Japan 

South Korea 

Malaysia 

Rest of World 

Singapore 

Taiwan 

United Kingdom 

United States of America 

Vietnam 

EU 

CODE 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LV 

LT 

LU 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

COUNTRY 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

The Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

82 

Annex 3 Energy System Models and Scenarios: POTEnCIA and POLES-JRC 

A3.1 POTEnCIA Model 

A3.1.1 Model Overview 

The Policy Oriented Tool for Energy and Climate Change Impact Assessment (POTEnCIA) is an energy system 
simulation model designed to compare alternative pathways for the EU energy system, covering energy supply 
and  all  energy  demand  sectors  (industry,  buildings,  transport,  and  agriculture).  Developed  in-house  by  the 
European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to support EU policy analysis, POTEnCIA allows for the joint 
evaluation of technology-focused policies, combined with policies addressing the decision-making of energy 
users. To this end: 

•

•

•

By simulating decision-making under imperfect foresight  at a high level of techno-economic detail,
POTEnCIA realistically captures the adoption and operation of new energy technologies under different
policy regimes;
By combining yearly time steps for demand-side planning and investment with hourly resolution for
the power sector, POTEnCIA provides high temporal detail to suitably assess rapid structural changes
in the EU’s energy system;
By  tracking  yearly  capital  stock  vintages  for  energy  supply  and  demand,  POTEnCIA  accurately
represents the age and performance of installed energy equipment, and enables the assessment of
path dependencies, retrofitting or retirement strategies, and stranded asset risks.

The core modelling approach of POTEnCIA (Figure A3-1; detailed in the (Mantzos et al., 2017, 2019)) focuses 
on the economically-driven operation of energy markets and corresponding supply-demand interactions, based 
on a recursive dynamic partial equilibrium method. As such, for each sector of energy supply and demand, this 
approach assumes a representative agent seeking to maximize its benefit or minimize its cost under constraints 
such as available technologies and fuels, behavioural preferences, and climate policies. 

Figure A3-1. The POTEnCIA model at a glance. 

Source: Adapted from (Mantzos et al., 2019) 

This core modelling approach is implemented individually for each EU Member State to capture differences in 
macroeconomic and energy system structures, technology assumptions, and resource constraints. The national 
model  implementation  is  supported  by  spatially-explicit  analyses  to  realistically  define  renewable  energy 
potentials and infrastructure costs for hydrogen and CO2 transport. Typical model output is provided in annual 
time  steps  over  a  horizon  of  2000-2070;  historical  data  (2000-2021)  are  calibrated  to  Eurostat  and  other 
official  EU  statistics  to  provide  accurate  initial  conditions,  using  an  updated  version  of  the  JRC  Integrated 
Database of the European Energy System (Rózsai et al., 2024).  

83 

A3.1.2 POTEnCIA CETO 2024 Scenario 

The technology projections provided by the POTEnCIA model are obtained under a climate neutrality scenario 
aligned with the broad GHG reduction objectives of the European Green Deal. As such, this scenario reduces net 
EU GHG emissions by 55 % by 2030 and 90 % by 2040, both compared to 1990, and reaches net zero EU 
emissions by 2050. To model suitably the uptake of different technologies under this decarbonisation trajectory, 
the scenario includes a representation at EU level of general climate and energy policies such as emissions 
pricing under the Emissions Trading System, as well as key policy instruments that have a crucial impact on the 
uptake of specific technologies. For instance, the 2030 energy consumption and renewable energy shares reflect 
the targets of the EU's Renewable Energy Directive and of the Energy Efficiency Directive. Similarly, the adoption 
of alternative powertrains and fuels in transport is consistent with the updated CO2 emission standards in road 
transport  and  with  the  targets  of  the  ReFuelEU  Aviation  and  FuelEU  Maritime  regulations.  A  more  detailed 
description of the POTEnCIA CETO 2024 Scenario will be available in the forthcoming report (Neuwahl et al., 
2024). 

A3.2 POLES-JRC Model 

A3.2.1 Model Overview 

POLES-JRC  (Prospective  Outlook  for  the  Long-term  Energy  System)  is a  global  energy  model  well  suited  to 
evaluate the evolution of energy demand and supply in the main world economies with a representation of 
international  energy  markets.  It  is  a  simulation  model  that  follows  a  recursive  dynamic  partial  equilibrium 
method. POLES-JRC is hosted at the JRC and was designed to assess global and national climate and energy 
policies.  

POLES-JRC covers the entire energy system, from primary supply (fossil fuels, renewables) to transformation 
(power, biofuels, hydrogen and hydrogen-derived fuels such as synfuels) and final sectoral demand (industry, 
buildings,  transport).  International  markets  and  prices  of  energy  fuels are  calculated  endogenously.  Its high 
level of regional detail (66 countries & regions covering the world with full energy balances, including all detailed 
OECD and G20 countries) and sectoral description allows assessing a wide range of energy and climate policies 
in all regions within a consistent global frame: access to energy resources, taxation policy, energy efficiency, 
technological preferences, etc. POLES-JRC operates on a yearly basis up to 2100 and is updated yearly with 
recent information.  

The POLES-JRC model applied for the CETO project is specifically enhanced and modified to capture learning 
effects of clean energy technologies. 

POLES-JRC results are published within the series of yearly publications "Global Climate and Energy Outlooks” 
– GECO. The GECO reports along with detailed country energy and GHG balances and an on-line visualisation
interface can be found at: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-activities-z/geco_en.

A  detailed  documentation  of  the  POLES-JRC  model  is  provided  in  (Després  et  al.,  2018)  and  a  schematic 
representation can be seen in Error! Reference source not found.. 

Figure A3-2. Schematic representation of the POLES-JRC model architecture. 

Source: POLES-JRC model 

84 

A3.2.2 POLES-JRC Model description 

Power System 

The power system considers all relevant power generating technologies including fossil, nuclear and renewable 
power  technologies.  Each  technology  is  modelled  based  on  its  current  capacities  and  techno-economic 
characteristics. The evolution of cost and efficiencies are modelled through technology learning. 

With  regard  to  the  power  technologies  covered  by  CETO,  the  model  includes  solar  power  (utility-scale  and 
residential PV, concentrated solar power), wind power (on-shore and off-shore), hydropower and ocean power. 
Moreover, clean thermal power technologies are taken into account with steam turbines fuelled by biomass, 
biomass  gasification,  CCS  power  technologies  and  geothermal  power.  Furthermore,  electricity  storage 
technologies such as pumped hydropower storage and batteries are also included. 

For solar and wind power, variable generation is considered by representative days with hourly profiles. For all 
renewables, regional resource potentials are considered. 

Electricity demand 

Electricity  demand  is  calculated  for  all  sectors  taking  into  account  hourly  fluctuations  through  the  use  of 
representative days. Clean energy technologies using electricity consist of heat pumps (heating and cooling), 
batteries and fuel cells in transport, and electrolysers.  

Power system operation and planning 

Power system operation allocates generation by technology to each hour of representative days, ensuring that 
supplying and storage technologies meet overall demand, including grid imports and exports. Capacity planning 
considers the existing power mix, the expected evolution of electricity demand as well as the techno-economic 
characteristics of the power technologies. 

Hydrogen 

POLES-JRC takes into account several hydrogen production routes: (i) low temperature electrolysers using power 
from dedicated solar, wind and nuclear plants as well as from the grid, (ii) steam reforming of natural gas (with 
and without CCS), (iii) gasification of coal and biomass (with and without CCS), (iv) pyrolysis of gas and biomass 
as well as (v) high temperature electrolysis using nuclear power. 

Hydrogen is used as fuel in all sectors including industry, transport, power generation and as well as feedstock 
for  the  production  of  synfuels  (gaseous  and  liquid  synfuels)  and  ammonia.  Moreover,  hydrogen  trade  is 
modelled,  considering  hydrogen  transport  with  various  means  (pipeline,  ship,  truck)  and  forms  (pressurised, 
liquid, converted into ammonia). 

Bioenergy 

POLES-JRC receives information on land use and agriculture through a soft-coupling with the GLOBIOM-G4M 
model (IIASA, 2024). This approach allows to model bioenergy demand and supply of biomass adequately by 
taking into account biomass-for-energy potential, production cost and reactivity to carbon pricing.  

Biomass is used for power generation, hydrogen production and for the production of 1st and 2nd generation 
of liquid biofuels. 

Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) 

POLES-JRC uses CCUS technologies in: 

•

•

•

•
•

Power generation: advanced coal using CCS, coal and biomass gasification with CCS, and gas combined
cycle with CCS.
Hydrogen production: Steam reforming with CCS, coal and biomass gasification with CCS, and gas and
biomass pyrolysis.
Direct air capture (DAC) where the CO2 is either stored or used for the production of synfuels (gaseous
or liquid).
Steel and cement production in the industrial sector.
Second generation biofuels production.

The deployment of CCS technologies considers region-specific geological storage potentials. 

85 

Endogenous technology learning 

The POLES-JRC model was enhanced to capture effects of learning of clean energy technologies. To capture 
these effects, a one-factor learning-by-doing (LBD) approach was applied to technologies and technology sub-
components, aiming at endogenising the evolution of technology costs.  

POLES-JRC considers historical statistics and assumptions on the evolution of cost and capacities of energy 
technologies until the most recent year available (this report: 2022/2023). Based on the year and a capacities 
threshold, the model switches from the default time series to the endogeneous modelling with the one-factor 
LBD  approach.  Within  the  LBD,  the  learning  rate  represents  the  percentage  change  of  the  cost  of  energy 
technology based on a doubling of the capacity of the energy technology. 

This generic approach is applied on a component level to capture spillover effects as well. For instance, a gasifier 
unit  is used  as component  for several  power generating  technologies  (e.g.  integrated  gasification  combined 
cycle, IGCC) as well as for several hydrogen production technologies (e.g.  gasification of coal and  biomass). 
Therefore, the component-based LBD approach allows to model spillover effects not only across technologies, 
but  also  across  sectors.  Also,  it  allows  to  estimate  costs  for  emerging  technologies  for  which  historical 
experience does not yet exist. 

Moreover,  for  each  component  a  floor  cost  is  specified  which  marks  the  minimum  for  the  component's 
investment  cost  and  serves  as limitation  for  the  cost  reduction  by  endogenous learning.  Cost  reductions  by 
learning in POLES-JRC slow down when the investment cost approaches the floor cost. 

The described method above applies not only for the overnight investment cost of energy technologies, but as 
well  for  operation  and  maintenance  (OM)  costs,  which  also  decrease  as  technologies  improve,  and  for 
efficiencies. In the model, OM  costs diminish synchronously to the decrease of total investment cost of the 
technology. The efficiency of renewables is implicitly taken into account in the investment cost learning and the 
considered renewable potentials. For most technologies the efficiencies are endogenously modelled. 

A3.2.3 Global CETO 2°C Scenario 2024 

The global scenario data presented in the CETO technology reports 2024 refers to a 2°C scenario modelled by 
the POLES-JRC model in a modified and enhanced version to address the specific issues relevant for the CETO 
project. 

The Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 and its specific POLES JRC model configuration is described in detail in the 
forthcoming  report  "Impacts  of  enhanced  learning  for  clean  energy  technologies  on  global  energy  system 
scenario" (Schmitz et al., 2024).  

The Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 is designed to limit global temperature increase to 2°C at the end of the 
century. It is driven by a single global carbon price for all regions that reduces emissions sufficiently so as to 
limit global warming to 2°C. This scenario is therefore a stylised representation of a pathway to the temperature 
targets.  This  scenario  does  not  consider  financial  transfers  between  countries  to  implement  mitigation 
measures. This is a simplified representation of an ideal case where strong international cooperation results in 
concerted effort to reduce emissions globally; it is not meant to replicate the result of announced targets and 
pledges, which differ greatly in ambition across countries.  

As a starting point, for all regions, it considers already legislated energy and climate policies (as of June 2023), 
but climate policy pledges and targets formulated in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-
Term  Strategies (LTSs)  are  not  explicitly  taken  into  account.  In  particular,  the  EU  Fit  for  55  and RePowerEU 
packages are included in the policy setup for the EU. Announced emissions targets for 2040 and 2050 for the 
EU are not considered.  

The Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 differs fundamentally from the Global CETO 2°C scenario 2023 used in the 
CETO technology reports in 2023 in various aspects29:  

•

The version of the POLES-JRC model used for the Global CETO 2°C scenario has been further
enhanced and modified to capture effects of endogenous learning of clean energy technologies and,
furthermore, several technology representations were further detailed, e.g. DAC (composition of
renewable technologies, batteries and DAC unit), fuel conversion technologies (for hydrogen
transport) and batteries in transport.

29

A description of the Global CETO 2°C scenario 2023 can be found in Annex 3 of (Chatzipanagi, Jaeger-Waldau, 
Cleret De Langavant, et al., 2023) 

86 

•

The techno-economic parameters have been thoroughly revised and updated taking into account the
expertise of the authors of the CETO technology reports.

As a result, major scenario differences occur in the Global CETO 2°C scenario  2024 regarding DAC, synfuels, 
CCS power technologies, wind power and ocean power. 

A3.3 Distinctions for the CETO 2024 Scenarios – POLES-JRC vs. POTEnCIA 

The results of both models are driven by national as well as international techno-economic assumptions, fuel 
costs, as well as policy incentives such as carbon prices. However, on one side these two JRC energy system 
models differ in scope and level of detail, on the other side the definitions of the POTEnCIA and POLES-JRC 
scenarios presented in this document follow distinct logics, leading to different scenario results: 

The Global CETO 2°C scenario 2024 (POLES-JRC) scenario is driven by a global carbon price trajectory to limit 
global warming to 2°C, where enacted climate policies are modelled, but long-term climate policy pledges and 
targets are not explicitly considered. Scenario results are presented for the global total until 2100. 

The POTEnCIA CETO 2024 scenario is a decarbonisation scenario that follows a trajectory for EU27’s net GHG 
emissions aligned with the general objectives of the European Climate Law (ECL) taking into consideration many 
sector-specific pieces of legislation. Scenario results are presented for the EU27 until 2050. 

87 

Annex 4 EU Supported R&I Projects for PV 

Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

758885 

4SUNS 

101059891 

ACCELERATE-PER 

4-Colours/2-Junctions of III-V 
semiconductors on Si to use in 
electronics devices and solar cells 

Physics-informed machine learning to 
accelerate stability research on 
perovskite solar cells 

III-V 

CPV 

ERC 

1,499,719  

2018 

2023 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

199694,4 

2023 

2025 

101129661 

ADAPTATION 

Adaptable bio-inspired polariton-
polariton energy management 

various 

general 

IA 

3635137 

2024 

2028 

666507 

ADVANCED 
-buildings 

New Generation of buildings glass with 
advanced integation properties 

various 

buildings 

SME 

1,887,121  

2015 

2017 

101075709 

AdvanSiC 

AdvanSiC - Advances in Cost-Effective 
HV SiC Power Devices for Europe’s 
Medium Voltage Grids 

various 

O&M 

Coordination 

3242373 

2023 

2025 

101147383 

AfricaEnergyParks 

Improving energy access and climate 
resilience in Africa’s fringe communities 

various 

integrated 
applications 

Coordination 

4994556,75 

2024 

2028 

101069310 

ALAMS 

Atomic-layer additive manufacturing 
for solar cells 

various 

general 

ERC 

150000 

2022 

2023 

774686 

AlbaSolar 

Developing perovskite-based solar 
panels 

perovskites 

general 

SME 

50,000  

2017 

2017 

101147112 

ALGAESOL 

745601 

AMPERE 

Sustainable aviation and shipping fuels 
from microalgae and direct solar BES 
technologies 

Automated photovoltaic cell and 
Module industrial Production to regain 
and secure European Renewable Energy 
market 

various 

general 

Coordination 

3997156,25 

2024 

2027 

Silicon 

general 

Innovation 

14,952,065  

2017 

2020 

101101025 

APERITIF 

Dry-processing of metal halide 
perovskites into thin films 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

150000 

2023 

2025 

101122277 

APOLLO 

A Proactive Approach to the Recovery 
and Recycling of Photovoltaic Modules 

various 

recycling 

R&I 

5,325,755.76 

2024 

2026 

763989 

APOLO 

101097337 

ARCHIMEDES 

720887 

ARCIGS-M 

101082517 

ASCEND 

SmArt Designed Full Printed Flexible 
RObust Efficient Organic HaLide 
PerOvskite solar cells 

Approaching 20% emission efficiency 
in the NIR-II region with radical 
chromophores 

Advanced aRchitectures for ultra-thin 
high-efficiency CIGS solar cells with 
high Manufacturability 

Advanced Space Cloud for European 
Net zero emissions and Data 
sovereignty 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,997,191  

2018 

2022 

various 

general 

ERC 

2499825 

2023 

2028 

CIGS 

buildings 

RIA 

4,498,701  

2016 

2020 

various 

space 

R&I 

2047882 

2023 

2024 

101106002 

ATACAMA 

Affordable TAndem Cell Architecture by 
Multi-thin-epitaxy Approach 

III-V 

general 

MSCA 

211754,88 

2024 

2026 

101136142 

BAMBOO 

Build scAled Modular Bamboo-inspired 
Offshore sOlar systems (BAMBOO) 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

6,917,726.25 

2024 

2026 

818009 

Be-Smart 

BE-Smart: Innovative Building Envelope 
for Sustainable, Modular, Aesthetic, 
Reliable and efficient construction 

N/A 

buildings 

Coordination 

8,155,173.37 

2018 

2022 

101096516 

BEST-Storage 

BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENT SYSTEM 
THROUGH SHORT AND LONG 
SPECTRUM THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

4797535 

2023 

2026 

88 

Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

817991 

BIPVBOOST 

Bringing down costs of buildings 
multifunctional solutions and processes 
along the value chain, enabling 
widespread nZEBs implementation 

various 

buildings 

Coordination 

8,844,070  

2018 

2023 

952911 

BOOSTER 

Boost Of Organic Solar Technology for 
European Radiance 

OPV/DSSC 

buildings 

Coordination 

6,106,623.75 

2020 

2024 

101109054 

BOOSTPV 

Development of Bismuth Chalcogenide 
Sustainable Thin Film PV Technology 

CIGS 

buildings 

MSCA 

151901,76 

2023 

2025 

101033809 

BundleUP NEXT 

101146684 

BURST 

Next-Level PDA Methodology to 
Enhance Public and Private Sustainable 
Energy Projects 

Breaking limits Using Record enabling 
Silicon Technology with photonic 
management 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€996,375.00 

2021 

2024 

IBC 

general 

Coordination 

3,214,191.50 

2024 

2027 

101088359 

C2C-PV 

Cradle-to-Cradle Design of Photovoltaic 
Modules 

various 

recycling 

ERC 

1962404 

2023 

2028 

641972 

CABRISS 

Implementation of a CirculAr economy 
Based on Recycled, reused and 
recovered Indium, Silicon and Silver 
materials for photovoltaic and other 
applications 

various 

recycling 

IA 

7,844,565  

2015 

2018 

101152844 

CAPSELL 

Chalcogenide Perovskites for Efficient, 
Stable, and non-toxic Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

230774,4 

2024 

2026 

728894 

CDRONE 

653296 

CHEOPS 

Towards un-subsidised solar power – 
Cleandrone, the inspection and cleaning 
solution 

Production technology to achieve low 
Cost and Highly Efficient phOtovoltaic 
Perovskite Solar cells 

N/A 

O&M 

SME 

50,000  

2016 

2016 

perovskites 

general 

RIA 

3,299,095  

2016 

2019 

776680 

CIRCUSOL 

Circular business models for the solar 
power industry 

various 

recycling 

IA 

7,014,893  

2018 

2022 

101135062 

CisWEFE-NEX 

101007084 

CITYSOLAR 

Circular Systemic Water-Energy-Food-
Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus CCRI 
Demonstrator for Regions facing 
Severe Water Stress. 

ENERGY HARVESTING IN CITIES WITH 
TRANSPARENT AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT 
WINDOW-INTEGRATED MULTI-
JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

9659285,15 

2024 

2029 

Various 

buildings 

Coordination 

3,779,242 

2020 

2023 

101033682 

CLEAR-X 

Consumers Leading the EU’s Energy 
Ambition Response, Expansion 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€1,999,750.00 

2021 

2024 

640873 

CPVMatch 

101113365 

Cremoso 

Concentrating Photovoltaic modules 
using advanced technologies and cells 
for highest efficiencies 

Cost-Effective Charge-Transport 
Materials for New-Generation Solar 
Cells 

III-V 

CPV 

RIA 

4,949,596  

2015 

2018 

various 

general 

ERC 

150000 

2023 

2024 

699935 

Crystal Tandem Solar 

Single-Crystal Perovskite Tandem Solar 
Cells For High Efficiency and Low Cost 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

269,858  

2017 

2019 

887915 

cs-BIPV-FS 

Next-generation transparent PV for 
Building Integrated Photovoltaics 

Silicon 

buildings 

SME 

50,000 

2019 

2020 

952982 

CUSTOM-ART 

DISRUPTIVE KESTERITES-BASED THIN 
FILM TECHNOLOGIES CUSTOMISED FOR 
CHALLENGING ARCHITECTURAL AND 
ACTIVE URBAN FURNITURE 
APPLICATIONS 

Kesterites 

buildings 

Coordination 

6,999,745.25 

2020 

2024 

790316 

DeepSolar 

Artificial Intelligence-based diagnostic 
system for Solar PV Plants 

N/A 

O&M 

SME 

50,000  

2017 

2018 

89 

Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101146984 

DeNOVO 

101084124 

DIAMOND 

Design rules for Novel Organic 
photoVoltaics from natural 
phOtosystems through computational 
modelling 

Ultra-stable, highly efficient, low-cost 
perovskite photovoltaics with 
minimised environmental impact 

various 

general 

MSCA 

172750,08 

2025 

2027 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

5,115,876.00 

2022 

2025 

727529 

DISC 

Double side contacted cells with 
innovative carrier-selective contacts 

Silicon 

general 

R&I 

4,743,519  

2016 

2019 

101065785 

ECLIPSE 

Ecological impacts of floating 
photovoltaics in lake ecosystems 

101118127 

ECOLOOP 

ECOLOOP 

various 

various 

integrated 
applications 

integrated 
applications 

MSCA 

264693,6 

2022 

2025 

Coordination 

7325300 

2023 

2027 

101150783 

ECOPV 

Green solvent recycling for sustainable, 
eco-friendly perovskite photovoltaics 

perovskites 

recycling 

MSCA 

222727,68 

2024 

2026 

679692 

Eco-Solar 

Eco-Solar Factory - 40%plus eco-
efficiency gains in the photovoltaic 
value chain with minimised resource 
and energy consumption by closed loop 
systems 

Silicon 

recycling 

RIA 

5,642,708  

2015 

2018 

101068387 

EFESO 

Exploiting Flexible pErovskites Solar 
technOlogies 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

288112,44 

2023 

2026 

101119780 

EIFFEL 

EffIcient Fullerene-Free organic solar 
cELls 

OPV 

general 

MSCA 

2642112 

2024 

2028 

701104 

ELSi 

101162648 

ENFORCE 

Industrial scale recovery and reuse of 
all materials from end of life silicon-
based photovoltaic modules 

ENhancing the power conversion 
eFficiency of mOnocRystalline nitrogen-
doped silicon solar CElls 

Silicon 

recycling 

IA 

2,529,607  

2016 

2018 

silicon 

general 

MSCA 

177251,52 

2024 

2026 

955413 

ENGIMMONIA 

Sustainable technologies for future 
long distance shipping towards 
complete decarbonisation 

N/A 

integrated 
applications 

CSA 

€9,500,000.00 

2021 

2025 

767180 

Envision 

ENergy harVesting by Invisible Solar 
IntegratiON in building skins 

various 

buildings 

IA 

4,900,313  

2017 

2022 

657270 

EpiSil-IBC 

Epitaxial silicon foil solar cells with 
interdigitated back contacts 

Silicon 

general 

MSCA 

160,800  

2015 

2017 

878182 

ESMOS 

Efficient, Safe and Multi-Functional 
Operation of Solar-Roads 

Silicon 

integrated 
applications 

SME 

50,000  

2019 

2020 

764047 

ESPResSo 

Efficient Structures and Processes for 
Reliable Perovskite Solar Modules 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

5,412,658  

2018 

2021 

881226 

ETC Solarshade 

727272 

ETIP PV - SEC 

825669 

ETIP PV - SEC II 

101075398 

ETIP PV Secretariat 

Invisible metal contacts for solar cells – 
boosting power output while cutting 
costs 

Support to all stakeholders from the 
Photovoltaic sector and related sectors 
to contribute to the SET-Plan 

Support to all stakeholders from the 
Photovoltaic sector and related sectors 
to contribute to the SET-Plan 

Support to all stakeholders from the 
Photovoltaic sector and related sectors 
to contribute to the SET-Plan 

various 

general 

SME 

2,032,343  

2019 

2021 

N/A 

general 

RIA 

€596,812.50 

2016 

2018 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

922,875  

2018 

2022 

various 

general 

Coordination 

946,500.00 

2022 

2025 

764805 

EU HEROES 

EU routes for High pEnentration of 
solaR PV into lOcal nEtworkS 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

1,230,558  

2017 

2020 

90 

 
              
              
              
              
                 
                   
              
              
                 
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101036457 

EU-SCORES 

European Scalable Complementary 
Offshore Renewable Energy Sources 

N/A 

integrated 
applications 

Coordination 

€34,831,483.81 

2021 

2025 

101122208 

EVERPV 

Highly efficient delamination 
technologies to recover and reuse 
metals, glass, polymers from end-of-
life photovoltaic panels 

various 

recycling 

R&I 

5,367,184.00 

2023 

2026 

101113332 

EVOLUTE 

Evolution of Advanced Luminescent 
Technology Software 

LSC 

general 

ERC 

150000 

2023 

2025 

101151994 

EXPLEIN 

101092339 

Exploit4InnoMat 

101152684 

EXT-PIMMCH 

Electron Transport Experimental 
Investigation of Perovskites using Light 
and Electron Injection at the Nanoscale 

An Open Innovation Ecosystem for 
exploitation of materials for building 
envelopes towards zero energy 
buildings 

Extending the perovskite-inspired 
mixed-metal chalcohalide alloy space 
for solar cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

187624,32 

2024 

2026 

various 

buildings 

IA 

11340890,38 

2023 

2026 

various 

general 

MSCA 

199694,4 

2024 

2026 

747331 

FALCO 

Financing Ambitious Local Climate 
Objectives 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€1,172,451.25 

2017 

2022 

797546 

FASTEST 

101065174 

FaWB ChaLT 

101096803 

Flex2Energy 

Fully Air-Processable and Air-Stable 
Perovskite Solar Cells Based on 
Inorganic Metal Halide Perovskite 
Nanocrystals 

Fabrication of Wide Bandgap 
Chalcopyrite Photovoltaics at Low 
Temperatures for Prospective Tandem 
Solar Cells 

Automated Manufacturing Production 
Line for Integrated Printed Organic 
Photovoltaics 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

180,277  

2018 

2020 

CIGS 

general 

MSCA 

217309,2 

2022 

2024 

OPV 

general 

IA 

15,702,550.00 

2023 

2026 

646428 

Flex4Grid 

Prosumer Flexibility Services for Smart 
Grid Management 

101043783 

FOCUS 

Fluorescent Optical Concentration of 
Uncollimated Sunlight 

N/A 

LSC 

system 
integration 

RIA 

€2,680,253.00 

2015 

2018 

general 

ERC 

2998125 

2022 

2027 

101138503 

FORESi 

FOstering a Recycled European Silicon 
supply 

silicon 

recycling 

IA 

6999848,75 

2024 

2026 

101080029 

FORTESIE 

101084261 

FreeHydroCells 

804519 

FREENERGY 

966334 

FREENERGY 

CBDC powered Smart PerFORrmance 
contracTs for Efficiency, Sustainable, 
Inclusive, Energy use 

Freestanding energy-to-Hydrogen fuel 
by water splitting using Earth-abundant 
materials in a novel, eco-friendly, 
sustainable and scalable 
photoelectrochemical Cell system 

Lead-free halide perovskites for the 
highest efficient solar energy 
conversion 

Lead-free halide perovskites for the 
highest efficient solar energy 
conversion 

various 

buildings 

IA 

7367150 

2022 

2025 

various 

general 

IA 

3748300 

2022 

2026 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

1,500,000  

2019 

2024 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

150,000  

2021 

2022 

101106492 

Full-Fission 

Singlet fission in fullerene-based 
single-material organic solar cells 

opv 

general 

MSCA 

181152,96 

2024 

2026 

101156968 

GEN2HU 

GENERON 2.0 Integrated Solar Roof Tile 

various 

Buildings 

IF 

2,220,000.00 

2024 

101070721 

GH2 

GreenH2 production from water and 
bioalcohols by full solar spectrum in a 
flow reactor 

various 

system 
integration 

ERC 

2201654,72 

2022 

2025 

91 

 
                 
              
                 
 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

792059 

GOPV 

Global Optimization of integrated 
PhotoVoltaics system for low electricity 
cost 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Innovation 

9,403,873.42 

2018 

2022 

687008 

GOTSolar 

New technological advances for the 
third generation of Solar cells 

perovskites 

general 

RIA 

2,993,404  

2016 

2018 

101151408 

GPSpace 

Graphene-based flexible perovskite 
solar cells for space applications 

perovskites 

space 

MSCA 

181152,96 

2025 

2027 

701254 

GreenChalcoCell 

101153827 

GreenPeroInk 

Green and sustainable chalcopyrite and 
kesterite nanocrystals for inorganic 
solar cells 

Scalable processing of highly stable, 
flexible multi-junction perovskite solar 
cells from green inks 

various 

general 

MSCA 

171,461  

2016 

2018 

perovskites 

O&M 

MSCA 

173847,36 

2025 

2027 

727362 

GRIDSOL 

SMART RENEWABLE HUBS FOR 
FLEXIBLE GENERATION: SOLAR GRID 
STABILITY 

N/A 

system 
integration 

R&I 

€3,421,447.50 

2016 

2019 

101059015 

HaloCell 

Harnessing Halogen Bond in Perovskite 
Solar Cells 

perovskites/OPV 

buildings 

MSCA 

235737,6 

2023 

2025 

101152917 

HEAT-PV 

725165 

HEINSOL 

HEAT-PV: High Efficiency Antimony 
Selenide (Sb2Se3) based Photovoltaic 
Devices 

Hierarchically Engineered Inorganic 
Nanomaterials from the atomic to 
supra-nanocrystalline level as a novel 
platform for SOLution Processed SOLar 
cells 

CIGS 

general 

MSCA 

156778,56 

2025 

2026 

various 

general 

ERC 

2,486,865  

2017 

2022 

101122345 

HEPAFLEX 

High-Efficiency Perovskites on Flexible 
Substrates for Sustainable Applications 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,308,772.50 

2023 

2027 

101108639 

HESOZA 

All-in-one solar rechargeable Zinc-air 
battery enabling direct storage of solar 
energy 

various 

system 
integration 

MSCA 

189687,36 

2024 

2026 

839136 

HES-PSC-FCTL 

High efficiency and stability perovskite 
solar cells based on the functionalized 
charge transport layers 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

224,934  

2019 

2021 

101122203 

Hi-BITS 

High efficiency bifacial thin film 
chalcogenide solar cells 

CIGS 

integrated 
applications 

R&I 

4,962,618.54 

2023 

2026 

190146412 

HighLine 

Fine Line Dispensing Process to apply 
Narrow Metal Contacts onto Solar Cells 

HJT 

general 

IA 

2500000 

2023 

2025 

857793 

HighLite 

High-performance low-cost modules 
with excellent environmental profiles 
for a competitive EU PV manufacturing 
industry 

Silicon 

buildings 

Coordination 

12,870,478  

2019 

2022 

857775 

HIPERION 

Hydrid photovoltaics for efficiecny 
record using optical technology 

III-V 

CPV 

Coordination 

10,590,511  

2019 

2023 

655272 

HISTORIC 

High efficiency GaInP/GaAs Tandem 
wafer bonded solar cell on silicon 

III-V 

general 

MSCA 

159,461  

2015 

2017 

101117858 

HOLOFAST 

Holographic nanoscale imaging via 
femtosecond structured illumination 

OPV 

general 

ERC 

1499838 

2024 

2029 

101159263 

Honkisaarenneva PV 
solar park 

Honkisaarenneva PV solar park 

various 

integrated 
applications 

4,131,273.00 

2024 

2041 

101132875 

HOPE 

High-efficient Onshore PV module 
production in Europe 

HJT 

general 

IF 

200,000,000.00 

2024 

2032 

101104491 

HOPES 

High-throughput Optimization for 
Indoor Organic Photovoltaic Energy 
Systems 

OPV 

general 

MSCA 

181152,96 

2024 

2026 

92 

 
              
                 
              
                 
           
           
                 
 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

850275 

HORIZON 

795716 

HYBRICYL 

101061809 

HyPerGreen 

Redefining solar technology with 
retractable soalr power folding roofs.  
Unlocking photovoltaics for waste 
water treatment plants towards self-
sufficient plants. 

Organic-Inorganic Hybrid 
Heterojunctions in Extremely Thin 
Absorber Solar Cells Based on Arrays of 
Parallel Cylindrical Nanochannels 

Revealing pathways towards efficient 
and stable eco-friendly tin perovskite 
solar cells by photo-Hall and surface 
photo-voltage measurements 

Silicon 

integrated 
applications 

SME 

2,488,125  

2019 

2021 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

159,461  

2018 

2020 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

189687,36 

2023 

2025 

756962 

HYPERION 

HYbrid PERovskites for Next 
GeneratION Solar Cells and Lighting 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

1,759,733  

2017 

2022 

674502 

HySolarKit 

Converting conventional cars into 
hybrid and solar vehicles 

Silicon 

integrated 
applications 

SME 

50,000  

2015 

2015 

747734 

Hy-solFullGraph 

New hybrid-nanocarbon allotropes 
based on soluble fullerene derivatives 
in combination with carbon nanotubes 
and graphene. Application in organic 
solar cells and biomaterials. 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

MSCA 

159,461  

2017 

2019 

717956 

HyTile 

Sensitive integrated Solar Hybrid 
Roofing for historical buildings. 

Silicon 

buildings 

SME 

50,000  

2016 

2016 

101084259 

IBC4EU 

764452 

iDistributedPV 

Piloting novel cost-competitive bifacial 
IBC technology for vertical integrated 
European GW scale PV production value 
chain 

Solar PV on the Distribution Grid: Smart 
Integrated Solutions of Distributed 
Generation based on Solar PV, Energy 
Storage Devices and Active Demand 
Management 

IBC 

general 

R&I 

13,490,668.75 

2022 

2025 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

2,706,940  

2017 

2020 

101040153 

IDOL 

Inverse Design of Optoelectronic 
Phosphosulfides 

various 

general 

ERC 

2263750 

2023 

2027 

101077766 

illicitLABOUR 

Illicit labour: Unveiling the dark sides of 
the global photovoltaic industry 

various 

general 

ERC 

1500000 

2024 

2029 

826013 

IMPRESSIVE 

ground-breakIng tandeM of 
transPaRent dyE SenSitIsed and 
peroVskite solar cElls 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

2,929,050  

2019 

2022 

101136112 

Increase 

effectIve advaNCements towaRds 
uptakE of PV integrAted in buildingS & 
infrastructurE 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

8,008,853.37 

2023 

2028 

777968 

INFINITE-CELL 

International cooperation for the 
development of cost-efficient 
kesterite/c-Si thin film next generation 
tandem solar cells 

Kesterites 

general 

MSCA 

1,318,500  

2017 

2022 

101152448 

INFRALIGHT 

Collecting Plasmonic Near-Infrared 
Photons through a Schottky junction 

various 

general 

MSCA 

172750,08 

2024 

2026 

101077006 

INPERSPACE 

Ultra-efficient and stable perovskite 
tandem solar cells for extreme 
conditions in space 

perovskites 

space 

ERC 

2500000 

2024 

2029 

101107885 

INT-PVK-PRINT 

An intelligent perovskite solution 
printing line 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

188590,08 

2023 

2025 

101066273 

IONMIGRATIONPSC 

Study of Ion Migration in Perovskite 
Solar Cells via X-ray Photoemission 
Spectroscopy Imaging and 
Photoluminescence Microscopy 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

173847,36 

2022 

2024 

101098900 

IPROP 

Ionic Propulsion in Atmosphere 

various 

space 

IA 

2999993,75 

2023 

2027 

93 

 
              
                 
              
                   
                 
                   
              
              
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101109355 

ISDT 

Design and implementation of a 
frequency domain online diagnostic 
tool for PV modules 

various 

O&M 

MSCA 

188590,08 

2024 

2026 

190190195 

iSPLASH 

Industrial Selective PLAting for Solar 
Heterojunction 

HJT 

general 

IA 

2449440 

2022 

2024 

101158748 

Koirivaara Solar Park 
Finland 

Koirivaara Solar Park Finland 

various 

general 

5,196,396.82 

2024 

2041 

101158420 

Kuortane Solar 

Kuortane Solar 

various 

general 

9,979,244.00 

2024 

2041 

101087673 

LAMI-PERO 

101147311 

LAPERITIVO 

190132742 

LAYER® 

101151487 

LEKPV 

876320 

LightCatcher 

101041809 

LOCAL-HEAT 

101158646 

Loukkaanaro solar 
park 

Laminated Perovskite Photovoltaics: 
Enabling large area processing of 
durable and high efficiency perovskite 
semiconductor thin films. 

Large-Area Perovskite Solar Module 
Manufacturing with High Efficiency, 
Long-Term Stability and Low 
Environmental Impact 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

2349755 

2023 

2028 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

6,952,728.98 

2024 

2028 

Development of an organic 
photovoltaic module that generates 
energy from ambient light 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

1622881 

2022 

2024 

Revolutionizing Indoor Energy: The 
Emergence of Low-Cost Eco-Friendly, 
High-Efficiency Kesterite Solar Cells 

kesterites 

integrated 
applications 

MSCA 

165312,96 

2024 

2026 

Scalable energy efficiency modules 
integrating both energy recovery and 
passive cooling systems for the solar 
photovoltaic industry 

Controlled Local Heating to Crystallize 
Solution-based Semiconductors for 
Next-Generation Solar Cells and 
Optoelectronics 

Silicon 

PVT 

SME 

50,000  

2019 

2020 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

1500000 

2022 

2027 

Loukkaanaro solar park 

various 

general 

2,353,563.18 

2024 

2040 

841265 

LOVETandemSolar 

Local Optoelectronic Visualisation for 
Enhancing Tandem Perovskite/Silicon 
Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

212,934  

2019 

2022 

856071 

LUMIDUCT 

Transparent PV that regulates indoor 
climate 

III-V 

buildings 

SME 

50,000  

2019 

2019 

101147653 

LUMINOSITY 

Large area uniform industry compatible 
perovskite solar cell technology 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

6,996,063.13 

2024 

2028 

101105123 

MaDLED 

Mastering Electronic Doping in Tin-
Halide Perovskites to Develop Near 
Infrared Light Emitting Diodes 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

188590,08 

2024 

2025 

764787 

MAESTRO 

MAking pErovskiteS TRuly explOitable 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

3,829,217  

2017 

2022 

101146874 

MAPLE 

Multidimensional generAtion of bulk 
Photovoltaic currents by vectorial Light 
Engineering 

various 

general 

MSCA 

172750,08 

2025 

2027 

101135299 

MASS-IPV 

Enabling Massive Integration of PV into 
Buildings and Infrastructure 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

7,190,188.74 

2023 

2027 

707168 

MatchForSolar 

Mechanochemical Approach to 
Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Materials for 
Perovskite Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

131,565  

2016 

2018 

101096139 

MC2.0 

Mass customization 2.0 for Integrated 
PV 

various 

integrated 
applications 

101091915 

MEloDIZER 

SUSTAINABLE MEMBRANE 
DISTILLATION FOR INDUSTRIAL WATER 
REUSE AND DECENTRALISED 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

IA 

7,592,626.00 

2023 

2026 

7007470,74 

2022 

2026 

94 

 
 
 
                   
 
                 
                   
              
                 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101083409 

Micro-Bio-CHP 

DESALINATION APPROACHING ZERO 
WASTE 

Development of a novel highly efficient 
energy supply system for energy 
autonomous multi-family buildings 
based on biomass gasification coupled 
with an SOFC and a PV system 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

3924195 

2022 

2025 

101087086 

MIRACLE 

Quantum-engineered lattice-matched 
III-V-on-Si multijunction solar cells 

III-V 

general 

ERC 

2808686 

2025 

2029 

101130860 

MISTiCal 

795206 

MolDesign 

726360 

MOLEMAT 

Semi-Transparent Micro-Striped 
Chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells 
for window applications 

Molecule design for next generation 
solar cells using machine learning 
approaches trained on large scale 
screening databases 

Molecularly Engineered Materials and 
process for Perovskite solar cell 
technology 

CIGS 

buildings 

MSCA 

195973,2 

2023 

2026 

various 

general 

MSCA 

208,964  

2018 

2022 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

1,878,085  

2017 

2023 

101153019 

MOLMAPS 

MOLecular Materials for Passivation in 
large Area Perovskite Solar modules 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

191760 

2024 

2026 

653184 

MPerS 

Sustainable Mixed-ion Layered 
Perovskite Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

195,455  

2015 

2017 

656658 

NanoCuI 

Nano-Copper Iodide: A New Material for 
High Performance P-Type Dye-
Sensitized Solar Cells 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

MSCA 

195,455  

2015 

2017 

696519 

NanoSol 

Accelerating Commercialization of 
Nanowire Solar Cell Technologies 

III-V 

general 

SME 

1,740,375  

2016 

2019 

655039 

NANOSOLAR 

HYBRID QUANTUM-DOT/TWO-
DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS 
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS 

various 

general 

MSCA 

158,122  

2015 

2017 

641023 

Nano-Tandem 

Nanowire based Tandem Solar Cells 

III-V 

general 

RIA 

3,561,842  

2015 

2019 

101084348 

NATURSEA-PV 

101135639 

Nautical SUNRISE 

101146980 

NEBULAE 

658391 

NeutronOPV 

727523 

NextBase 

NOVEL ECO-CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS 
AND COMPONENTS FOR DURABLE, 
COMPETITIVE, AND BIO-INSPIRED 
OFFSHORE FLOATING PV 
SUBSTRUCTURES 

Survivability assessment, cost 
redUction pathways and eNvironmental 
evaluation of offshoRe Installed 
floating Solar energy farms 

Eco-friendly ytterbium-doped 
perovskite nanocrystals embedded in 
glasses for solar cells 

New neutron techniques to probe bulk 
heterojunction solar cells with graded 
morphologies – understanding the link 
between processing, nanostructure and 
device performance 

Next-generation interdigitated back-
contacted silicon heterojunction solar 
cells and modules by design and 
process innovations 

various 

integrated 
applications 

R&I 

3,621,694.10 

2022 

2026 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

6,803,003.95 

2023 

2027 

various 

general 

MSCA 

199694,4 

2025 

2027 

Silicon 

general 

MSCA 

195,455  

2015 

2017 

Silicon 

general 

R&I 

3,800,421  

2016 

2019 

656208 

NEXTNANOCELLS 

Next generation nanowire solar cells 

III-V 

general 

MSCA 

173,857  

2015 

2018 

101075330 

NEXUS 

NEXt generation of sUstainable 
perovskite-Silicon tandem cells 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

3,978,201.25 

2022 

2025 

101158719 

Niittyneva Solar Park 

Niittyneva Solar Park 

various 

general 

837,039.00 

2024 

2040 

95 

 
                 
              
                 
                 
              
                 
              
                 
              
                 
 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101154100 

OFFSET 

Perovskite Ferroelectric Materials For 
Sustainable Energy Technologies 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

261380,64 

2024 

2027 

101158777 

Ohrasuo Solar Park 
funding application 

820789 

OLEDSOLAR 

686116 

OptiNanoPro 

101120262 

OPVStability 

Ohrasuo Solar Park funding application 

various 

general 

990,500.00 

2024 

2041 

Innovative manufacturing processes 
and in-line monitoring techniques for 
the OLED and thin film and organic 
photovoltaic industries (CIGS and OPV) 

Processing and control of novel 
nanomaterials in packaging, 
automotive and solar panel processing 
lines 

Understanding, Predicting and 
Enhancing the Stability of Organic 
Photovoltaics 

various 

general 

RIA 

7,872,870  

2018 

2022 

various 

O&M 

IA 

5,516,910  

2015 

2018 

opv 

general 

MSCA 

2700619,2 

2023 

2027 

101067838 

P4SPACE 

Development of Perovskite 
Photovoltaics for Space Environment 

perovskites 

space 

MSCA 

207609,6 

2023 

2025 

774717 

PanePowerSW 

804554 

PanePowerSW 

101086805 

PARACRYST 

Transparent Solar Panel Technology for 
Energy Autonomous Greenhouses and 
Glass Buildings 

Transparent Solar Panel Technology for 
Energy Autonomous Greenhouses and 
Glass Buildings 

The Semi-paracrystalline Organization 
in Polymers: Towards Stable Organic 
Solar Cells 

OPV/DSSC 

buildings 

SME 

50,000  

2017 

2017 

OPV/DSSC 

buildings 

SME 

1,491,783  

2018 

2021 

opv 

general 

ERC 

1999000 

2024 

2028 

101122283 

PEARL 

FLEXIBLE PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS 
WITH CARBON ELECTRODES 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,498,458.00 

2023 

2026 

639760 

PEDAL 

101084251 

PEPPERONI 

Plasmonic Enhancement and 
Directionality of Emission for Advanced 
Luminescent Solar Devices 

Pilot line for European Production of 
PEROvskite-Silicon taNdem modules on 
Industrial scale 

LSC 

buildings 

ERC 

1,447,410  

2015 

2021 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

12,950,825.00 

2022 

2026 

850937 

PERCISTAND 

Development of all thin-film PERovskite 
on CIS TANDem photovoltaics 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

4,997,437  

2020 

2023 

101087679 

PEROVAP 

Engineering metal halide PEROvskites 
by VAPour deposition 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

1999843,75 

2024 

2029 

659237 

PerovskiteHTM 

New Hole-Transport Materials to 
Enhance Perovskite Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

195,455  

2016 

2018 

841005 

PerSiSTanCe 

Low-cost and Large-Area Perovskite-
Silicon Solar Tandem Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

203,149  

2019 

2021 

101098168 

PERSTACK 

Perovskite triple and quadruple junction 
solar cells 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

2999926 

2024 

2028 

763977 

PERTPV 

Perovskite Thin-film Photovoltaics 
(PERTPV) 

Perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,996,041.25 

2018 

2021 

101125948 

PHASE 

Photonic metasurfaces for resource-
efficient ultrathin high efficiency 
tandem solar cells 

various 

general 

ERC 

2676875 

2024 

2029 

101111407 

PHOMOTRIPP 

PHOtoactivated Metal Oxide TRansport 
layers for Indoor Perovskite 
Photovoltaics 

perovskites 

integrated 
applications 

MSCA 

188590,08 

2024 

2026 

101069357 

Photo2Fuel 

Artificial PHOTOsynthesis to produce 
FUELs and chemicals: hybrid systems 
with microorganisms for improved light 
harvesting and CO2 reduction 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

2493171 

2022 

2025 

96 

 
 
              
              
                   
              
              
              
                 
                 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

745776 

PHOTOPEROVSKITES 

Photoexcitation Dynamics and Direct 
Monitoring of Photovoltaic Processes of 
Solid-State Hybrid Organic-Inorganic 
Perovskite Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

195,455  

2017 

2020 

101118129 

PHOTOSINT 

PHOTOelectrocatalytic systems for 
Solar fuels energy INTegration into the 
industry with local resources 

various 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

4993752,5 

2023 

2027 

795079 

PhotSol 

Towards the Photonic Solar Cell 
- 
In-Situ Defect Characterization in 
Metal-Halide Perovskites 

various 

general 

MSCA 

159,461  

2019 

2021 

737447 

PHYSIC 

Photovoltaic with superior crack 
resistance 

Silicon 

O&M 

ERC 

149,500 

2017 

2018 

101084046 

PILATUS 

889405 

PIPER 

832606 

PISCO 

661480 

PlasmaPerovSol 

101058459 

Platform-ZERO 

Digitalised pilot lines for silicon 
heterojunction tunnel interdigitated 
back contact solar cells and modules 

Printing of Ultra-Thin, Flexible 
Perovskite Solar Cells and its 
Commercial Application 

Photochromic Solar Cells: Towards 
Photovoltaic Devices with Variable and 
Self-Adaptable Optical Transmission 

A full plasma and vacuum integrated 
process for the synthesis of high 
efficiency planar and 1D conformal 
perovskite solar cells 

Customizable AI-based in-line process 
monitoring platform for achieving zero-
defect manufacturing in the PV 
industry 

HJT 

general 

R&I 

10,158,731.15 

2022 

2025 

perovskites 

buildings 

SME 

50,000  

2019 

2020 

various 

general 

ERC 

2,497,742  

2019 

2024 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

158,122  

2016 

2017 

various 

general 

IA 

9131043 

2023 

2026 

762726 

PLATIO 

Innovative outdoor solar and kinetic 
energy harvesting pavement system 

silicon 

integrated 
applications 

SME 

50,000  

2017 

2017 

651970 

POLYSOLAR 

747221 

POSITS 

A light weight, recyclable, tracking 
support system, for solar photovoltaic 
modules based on inflatable polymer 
membranes 

High Performance Wide Bandgap and 
Stable Perovskite-on-Silicon Tandem 
Solar Cells 

various 

O&M 

SME 

50,000  

2014 

2015 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

175,420  

2017 

2019 

101033940 

POWER UP 

SOCIAL ENERGY MARKET PLAYERS TO 
TACKLE ENERGY POVERTY 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€1,962,832.50 

2021 

2025 

101158421 

Poytya Solar 

Poytya Solar 

various 

general 

4,011,984.00 

2024 

2041 

727722 

PRINTSolar 

Printable Perovskite Solar Cells with 
High Efficiency and Stable Performance 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

150,000  

2016 

2018 

101079469 

PROMISE 

715354 

p-TYPE 

Photovoltaics Reliability Operations and 
Maintenance Innovative Solutions for 
Energy Alliance 

Transparent p-type semiconductors for 
efficient solar energy capture, 
conversion and storage. 

646554 

PV FINANCING 

PV FINANCING 

842547 

PV Impact 

Actual execution of the Implementation 
Plan for Photovoltaics and monitoring 
the Implementation Plan’s delivery 

various 

recycling 

Coordination 

1500000 

2022 

2025 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

ERC 

1,499,840  

2017 

2022 

N/A 

N/A 

system 
integration 

RIA 

2,050,939  

2015 

2017 

general 

Coordination 

1,094,565  

2019 

2022 

101096409 

PV4Plants 

AgriPV system with climate, water and 
light spectrum control for safe, 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

4,079,701.00 

2023 

2026 

97 

 
                 
                 
                   
              
                 
                   
                   
                 
 
                 
              
              
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

818342 

PVadapt 

657359 

PVFIFTY 

healthier and improved crops 
production 

Prefabrication, Recyclability and 
Modularity for cost reductions in Smart 
buildings systems 

TOWARDS A 50% EFFICIENT 
CONCENTRATOR SOLAR CELL AND A 
40% EFFICIENT SPACE SOLAR CELL 

Silicon 

buildings 

Coordination 

8,978,434  

2018 

2022 

III-V 

space 

MSCA 

183,455  

2015 

2017 

684528 

PVFINAL 

Photo Voltaic Fully Integrated and 
Automated Line 

Silicon 

general 

SME 

50,000  

2015 

2015 

101147000 

PVOP 

Digitalising the PV sector for the era of 
Terawatts 

various 

O&M 

Coordination 

4,856,743.63 

2024 

2027 

764786 

PV-Prosumers-4Grid 

Development of innovative self-
consumption and aggregation concepts 
for PV Prosumers to improve grid load 
and increase market value of PV 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

2,501,739  

2017 

2020 

691768 

PVSITES 

101122298 

QUASAR 

101105718 

QuBics 

655852 

Quokka Maturation 

Building-integrated photovoltaic 
technologies and systems for large-
scale market deployment 

70%plus eco-efficiency gains in the PV 
EOL supply chain by closed loop 
systems with enhanced recycling rates, 
systematic collection and management 
utilising digital twins 

Understanding the Working 
Mechanisms of Quaternary Blend 
Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs) 

A mature Quokka for everyone – 
advancing the capabilities and 
accessibility of numerical solar cell 
simulations 

various 

buildings 

RIA 

5,467,612  

2016 

2020 

various 

recycling 

R&I 

6,815,473.39 

2023 

2027 

opv 

general 

MSCA 

222727,68 

2023 

2025 

various 

general 

MSCA 

171,461  

2016 

2018 

702629 

R2R-3G 

Towards Roll-to-Roll Production of Third 
Generation Solar Cells 

III-V 

general 

MSCA 

187,420  

2016 

2018 

776362 

RadHard 

674628 

RAYGEN 

101137773 

REALIZE 

101096056 

REGACE 

Ultra High Efficiency Radiation Hard 
Space Solar Cells on Large Area 
Substrates 

A unique innovative utility scale solar 
energy technology that utilises a field 
of low cost heliostat collectors to 
concentrate sunlight onto an ultra-
efficient multi-junction photovoltaic cell 
array 

RENEWABLE ENERGY ACTIONS 
LEVERAGING INNOVATION TOWARDS 
ZERO EMISSIONS IN EUROPE 

III-V 

space 

RIA 

3,072,973  

2018 

2022 

III-V 

CPV 

SME 

50,000  

2015 

2015 

various 

general 

IA 

997383,58 

2024 

2026 

Crop Responsive Greenhouse 
Agrivoltaics System with CO2 
Enrichment for Higher Yields 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

IA 

5,330,750.00 

2023 

2026 

5999983 

2023 

2026 

101103450 

RENplusHOMES 

Renewable ENergy-based Positive 
Homes 

various 

system 
integration 

683928 

REPHLECT 

Recovering Europe´s PHotovoltaics 
LEadership through high Concentration 
Technology 

III-V 

CPV 

SME 

1,633,601  

2015 

2018 

101096250 

RePower 

Improving Renewables Penetration 
Through Plug and Play Microgrids 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

9,988,745.87 

2023 

2027 

649767 

RESCOOP MECISE 

RESCOOPs Mobilizing European Citizens 
to Invest in Sustainable Energy 

N/A 

general 

CSA 

€2,185,000.00 

2015 

2019 

98 

 
              
                 
                   
              
              
                 
                 
              
                   
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101058583 

RESILEX 

101082355 

RESPONDENT 

101122332 

Retrieve 

862474 

RoLA-FLEX 

101154277 

S3EM 

101153098 

SAMper 

Resilient Enhancement for the Silicon 
Industry Leveraging the European 
matriX 

Renewable Energy Sources Power 
FOrecasting and SyNchronisation for 
Smart GriD NEtworks MaNagemenT 

Reintegration of photovoltaic panel 
waste back into manufacturing as high 
value products 

Roll-2-Roll and Photolithography post-
processed with LAser digital technology 
for FLEXible photovoltaics and 
wearable displays 

A Semantic 3D Energy Model for 
Prosumer With Integrated Photovoltaics 
Systems 

Boosting Efficiency and Stability of Tin-
Lead Perovskite Photovoltaics with 
Chemically Smart Device Architectures 

silicon 

recycling 

IA 

10577055 

2022 

2026 

various 

O&M 

IA 

2147112,5 

2022 

2025 

various 

recycling 

R&I 

6,943,801.55 

2023 

2027 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

RIA 

4,705,038.38 

2020 

2023 

various 

buildings 

MSCA 

214934,4 

2025 

2027 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

181152,96 

2024 

2026 

101033676 

SCCALE 203050 

Sustainable Collective Citizen Action for 
a Local Europe 20-30-50 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€1,999,166.25 

2021 

2024 

101096126 

SEAMLESS-PV 

886287 

SecureTracker 

Development of advanced 
manufacturing equipment and 
processes aimed at the seamless 
integration of multifunctional PV 
solutions, enabling the deployment of 
IPV sectors 

New-generation bifacial solar tracker 
with integrated wind protection system 
for large scale photovoltaic arrays 

silicon 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

12,582,309.31 

2023 

2026 

Silicon 

O&M 

SME 

50,000  

2019 

2020 

953016 

SERENDI-PV 

Smooth, REliable aNd Dispatchable 
Integration of PV in EU Grids 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

9,779,145.88 

2020 

2024 

641004 

Sharc25 

Super high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-
film solar cells approaching 25% 

CIGS 

general 

RIA 

4,563,123  

2015 

2018 

101065298 

SHERPA 

101147275 

SiLEAN  

101075626 

SITA 

727497 

SITASOL 

Self-healing screen-printed perovskite 
photovoltaics beyond Shockley–
Queisser Limit 

Silicon solar cells with Low 
Environmental footprint and Advanced 
interfaces 

Stable Inorganic TAndem solar cell with 
superior device efficiency and 
increased durability 

Application relevant validation of c-Si 
based tandem solar cell processes with 
30 % efficiency target 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

188590,08 

2022 

2024 

HJT 

general 

Coordination 

2,996,153.75 

2024 

2027 

HJT 

general 

Coordination 

4,987,479.50 

2022 

2025 

III-V 

general 

R&I 

4,298,201  

2017 

2021 

101114653 

SmartHyMat 

Smart Hybrid Materials for 
Opto(electro)ionics 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

2123241 

2024 

2029 

101122327 

SMARTLINE-PV 

844655 

SMOLAC 

Fast plasma-assisted perovskite 
crystallization for high efficiency lead-
free perovskite thin film photovoltaics 

Theoretical design of non-fullerene 
small molecule acceptors for organic 
solar cells with improved efficiency. 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,994,686.25 

2024 

2027 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

MSCA 

174,806  

2019 

2022 

736217 

SOcool 

 SunOyster cooling (SOcool) 

III-V 

PVT 

SME 

50,000  

2016 

2017 

778106 

SOcool 

 SunOyster cooling (SOcool) 

III-V 

PVT 

SME 

1,398,478  

2017 

2021 

99 

 
                   
              
              
                 
                   
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

683876 

SoHo3X 

Introducing a novel concept of solar 
photovoltaic module in the market 

Silicon 

CPV 

SME 

50,000  

2015 

2015 

647281 

SOLACYLIN 

A preparative approach to geometric 
effects in innovative solar cell types 
based on a nanocylindrical structure 

various 

general 

ERC 

1,938,655  

2015 

2020 

952879 

SolAqua 

Accessible, reliable and affordable 
solar irrigation for Europe and beyond 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

1,757,211 

2020 

2023 

101114041 

SOLAR BABYSITTER 

Solar BabySitter'- technology to change 
solar world 

various 

O&M 

Coordination 

75000 

2023 

2024 

815019 

Solar Bank 

649997 

Solar Bankability 

Virtual Energy Trading IT System to 
couple photovoltaic production and 
electric vehicles charging. 

Improving the Financeability and 
Attractiveness of Sustainable Energy 
Investments in Photovolatics: 
Quantifying and Managing the 
Technical Risk for Current and New 
Business Models 

N/A 

N/A 

system 
integration 

SME 

50,000  

2018 

2018 

system 
integration 

CSA 

1,355,106  

2015 

2017 

786483 

Solar Cofund 2 

SOLAR-ERA.NET Cofund 2 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

6,333,425  

2018 

2023 

101099284 

SolarCO2Value 

718003 

SolardeSaLt 

Lab-to-tech transition of the current 
best low temperature electrolyser 
technology for CO2 reduction to CO 
using solar energy 

A Renewable Approach for Industrial 
Water Desalination by using Hybrid 
Photovolt 

various 

system 
integration 

IA 

2373125 

2022 

2025 

Silicon 

integrated 
applications 

SME 

50,000  

2016 

2016 

791411 

SolarGaps 

SolarGaps - Energy generating solar 
smart window blinds 

N/A 

buildings 

SME 

50,000 

2017 

2018 

101103762 

SolarHyValue 

Simultaneous solar hydrogen and 
value-added product generation by 
inexpensive photoelectrodes 

perovskites 

system 
integration 

MSCA 

157622,4 

2024 

2026 

760311 

SolarSharc 

SOLARSHARC - a durable self-clean 
costing for solar panels to improve PV 
energy generation efficiency 

various 

O&M 

IA 

2,267,636  

2017 

2019 

721452 

SOLAR-TRAIN 

Photovoltaic module life time forecast 
and evaluation 

various 

O&M 

MSCA 

3,576,248  

2016 

2020 

101046297 

SOLARUP 

Advanced Strategies for Development 
of Sustainable Semiconductors for 
Scalable Solar Cell Applications 

various 

general 

IA 

2930127,5 

2022 

2026 

101148726 

SolarWay 

Solar syngas streamed from photonic-
enhanced perovskite photovoltaics: 
paving the way for market deployment 

perovskites 

system 
integration 

MSCA 

156778,56 

2024 

2026 

870004 

Solar-Win 

101041554 

SOLBATT 

101063676 

SOLIDUPCONVERSION 

101136148 

SOLINDARITY 

Next generation transparent solar 
windows based on customised 
integrated photovoltaics 

Storage of Electrons into Chemical 
Bonds: Towards Molecular Solar 
Electrical Batteries 

Active Triplet-Mediator Matrices for 
Efficient Solid-State Triplet-Triplet 
Annihilation Photon Upconversion 
Devices 

SOLar-driven INDustrial power And 
heat upgRaded with hIgh-temperature 
heaT pumps for enhanced integrated 
process efficiencY 

CIGS 

buildings 

IA 

2,419,594  

2019 

2021 

opv 

general 

ERC 

1449034 

2022 

2027 

various 

general 

MSCA 

206887,68 

2022 

2024 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

6,998,055.00 

2024 

2027 

100 

 
                   
              
                   
              
              
                   
              
              
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

875870 

SolMate 

101122288 

SolMates 

The world’s first “Plug-in and Use-Solar 
PV with Storage”,  designed for small 
city apartments in the EU. 

Scaleable High-Power Output and Low 
Cost Made-to-Measure Tandem Solar 
Modules Enabling Specialised PV 
Applications 

various 

buildings 

SME 

50,000  

2019 

2020 

CIGS/perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,998,579.50 

2023 

2026 

647311 

Sol-Pro 

Solution Processed Next Generation 
Photovoltaics 

Various 

general 

ERC 

1,840,940 

2015 

2020 

684019 

Soltile 

726703 

SolTile 

A roof integrated solar tile system to 
develop cost-effective distributed solar 
power generation. 

A roof integrated solar tile system to 
develop cost-effective distributed solar 
power generation 

Silicon 

buildings 

SME 

50,000  

2015 

2015 

Silicon 

buildings 

SME 

1,542,733  

2016 

2019 

101150737 

SolVa 

Solar To Value 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

191760 

2024 

2026 

101064961 

SpaceTimeFerro 

101149132 

SPARKLES 

818762 

SPECTRACON 

Space-time visualization of photo-
excited carrier dynamics in ferroelectric 
solar-energy converters by ultrafast 
electron microscopy 

Femtosecond laser processing for 
micro- and nanopatterning of metal 
halide perovskite thin films for 
enhanced light management in solar 
cells 

Materials Engineering of Integrated 
Hybrid Spectral Converters for Next 
Generation Luminescent Solar Devices 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

189687,36 

2023 

2024 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

175920 

2024 

2026 

LSC 

buildings 

ERC 

2,124,593  

2019 

2024 

101136094 

SPHINX 

Sustainable Photovoltaics Integration in 
buildings and Infrastructure for 
multiple applications 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

5,247,990.98 

2023 

2026 

101068936 

SPIKE 

101105363 

SpinBioAnode 

Engineering Water Repellent Coatings 
by Functional Nano-Sponges: a 
Springboard to Stable Perovskite 
Devices (SPIKE) 

Nature’s spin-flipping machine: design 
of the semiconductor-free 
biophotoanode 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

150000 

2023 

2024 

various 

general 

MSCA 

189687,36 

2023 

2025 

101063375 

SpinSC 

Spin-mediated spectral conversion for 
efficient photovoltaics 

various 

general 

MSCA 

188590,08 

2023 

2025 

743419 

SpinSolar 

101113313 

SPRINT 

Characterisation method for spin-
dependent processes in solar energy 
technology 

Sputtering Halide Perovskites for 
Integration in Monolithic Tandem Solar 
Cells 

various 

general 

MSCA 

159,461  

2017 

2019 

perovskites 

general 

ERC 

150000 

2023 

2024 

720907 

STARCELL 

 Advanced strategies for substitution of 
critical raw materials in photovoltaics 

Kesterites 

general 

RIA 

4,832,185  

2017 

2019 

843453 

STARS 

STable perovskite solar cells via 
interfacial engineering of 2D/3D mixed-
dimensional Absorbers and Robust 
dopant-free hole transporting 
materialS 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

191,149  

2019 

2021 

101108851 

STED 

Real Space-Time imaging and control 
of Electron Dynamics 

various 

general 

MSCA 

181152,96 

2023 

2025 

737884 

STILORMADE 

Highly efficient non-standard solar 
modules manufactured through an 
automated, 
reconfigurable mass production 

Silicon 

buildings 

IA 

2,836,035  

2017 

2019 

101 

 
                   
                   
              
              
                 
              
                 
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

processes delivering 30% reduction in 
costs 

101138070 

STORE-LIGHT 

Photoelectrodes that STORE LIGHT 
energy 

various 

system 
integration 

ERC 

150000 

2024 

2025 

101032239 

Sun4All 

Eurosolar for all: energy communities 
for a fair energy transition in Europe 
(Sun4All) 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€1,660,264.87 

2021 

2024 

101156750 

SUNAGRI Carbon 
Farm 

Dynamic Agrivoltaic for Farm 
decarbonization and agriculture 
sustainability 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IF 

4,268,378.00 

2024 

2031 

101058481 

SUNER-C 

SUNER-C: SUNERGY Community and 
eco-system for accelerating the 
development of solar fuels and 
chemicals. 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

3997646 

2022 

2025 

738842 

SUNINBOX 

Portable SolUtioN for dIstributed 
geNeration in a BOX 

N/A 

system 
integration 

SME 

1,407,542.50 

2017 

2019 

101084422 

SUNREY 

Boosting SUstaiNability, Reliability and 
EfficiencY of perovskite PV through 
novel materials and process 
engineering. 

perovskites 

general 

R&I 

4,249,978.00 

2022 

2025 

792245 

SUPER PV 

CoSt redUction and enhanced 
PERformance of PV systems 

various 

O&M 

Innovation 

9,907,793  

2018 

2022 

101146883 

SUPERNOVA 

101075605 

SuPerTandem 

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE AND 
GRID FRIENDLY TOOLS AND 
SOLUTIONS FOR SOLAR DATA FUSION 
AND INSIGHT EXPLOSION FOR 
RELIABLE, BANKABLE, CIRCULAR PV 
PLANTS 

Sustainable materials and 
manufacturing processes for the 
development of high efficiency, flexible, 
all-Perovskite Tandem photovoltaic 
modules with low CO2 footprint 

various 

O&M 

Coordination 

4,906,167.00 

2024 

2027 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

4,930,196.25 

2022 

2025 

101135567 

SuRE 

Sustainable, Reliable, and Efficient 
Floating PV Power Plants 

various 

integrated 
applications 

101083342 

SUREWAVE 

640868 

SWInG 

STRUCTURAL RELIABLE OFFSHORE 
FLOATING PV SOLUTION INTEGRATING 
CIRCULAR CONCRETE FLOATING 
BREAKWATER 

Development of thin film Solar cells 
based on WIde band Gap kesterite 
absorbers 

IA 

IA 

7,162,648.99 

2024 

2027 

3515097,5 

2022 

2025 

various 

integrated 
applications 

Kesterites 

general 

RIA 

3,254,755  

2015 

2018 

101096352 

Symbiosyst 

Create a Symbiosis where PV and 
agriculture can have a mutually 
beneficial relationship 

various 

integrated 
applications 

101119744 

TALOS 

roboTics and Artificial intelligence 
Living labs improving Operations in PV 
Scenarios 

various 

integrated 
applications 

IA 

IA 

4,827,668.00 

2023 

2026 

8769661,5 

2023 

2026 

826002 

Tech4Win 

Disruptive sustainable TECHnologies 
FOR next generation pvWINdows 

various 

buildings 

Coordination 

2,877,045  

2019 

2022 

101147545 

TERASUN 

Towards Terawatt Production of c-Si 
Solar Photovoltaics 

HJT 

general 

Coordination 

2,997,076.75 

2024 

2027 

101079488 

TESTARE 

687253 

TFQD 

Twinning for excellence in TEsting new 
generation PV: Long-term STAbility and 
field REliability 

Thin film light-trapping enhanced 
quantum dot photovoltaic cells: an 
enabling technology for high power-to-
weight ratio space solar arrays. 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

1499996,25 

2023 

2026 

III-V 

general 

RIA 

1,008,376  

2016 

2018 

102 

 
              
              
              
              
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

828485 

THE SOLAR URBAN 
HUB 

A SOLAR URBAN HUB with integrated 
lighting and information system for 
optimal Smart Cities efficiency 

N/A 

integrated 
applications 

SME 

50,000 

2018 

2019 

751375 

TinPSC 

Towards Stable and Highly Efficient 
Tin-based Perovskite Solar Cells 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

185,857  

2018 

2020 

706094 

TONSOPS 

785005 

TRAINEE 

793424 

TRIBOSC 

101075725 

TRIUMPH 

Titanium Oxide Nanocomposites for 
Scalable Optimized Perovskite Solar 
cells 

TowaRd market-based skills for 
sustAINable Energy Efficient 
construction 

Towards Radically Innovative Materials 
for Better and Sustainable Organic 
Solar Cells 

Triple junction solar modules based on 
perovskites and silicon for high 
performance, low-cost and small 
environmental footprint 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

170,122  

2016 

2018 

N/A 

general 

Coordination 

€877,006.25 

2018 

2020 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

MSCA 

183,455  

2018 

2020 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

5,131,150.00 

2022 

2026 

952957 

TRUST-PV 

Increase Friendly Integration of Reliable 
PV plants considering different market 
segments 

N/A 

system 
integration 

Coordination 

9,969,043.63 

2020 

2024 

101076447 

TwInSolar 

101159827 

TWINSOLARSURF 

Improving research and innovation to 
achieve a massive integration of solar 
renewables 

TWINNING FOR SOLAR ENERGY-DRIVEN 
SURFACE ENGINEERING OF METALLIC 
PARTS 

101106654 

ULTRA-2DPK 

Ultrafast physics in 2D halide 
perovskites for applications in 
optoelectronic devices 

101039110 

UNIFY 

715027 

Uniting PV 

Unification of the best piezoelectric and 
photovoltaic properties in a single 
photoferroelectric material 

Applying silicon solar cell technology to 
revolutionize the design of thin-film 
solar cells and enhance their efficiency, 
cost and stability 

various 

general 

Coordination 

1488249,75 

2022 

2025 

various 

general 

Coordination 

1420042,44 

2024 

2027 

perovskites 

general 

MSCA 

211754,88 

2023 

2025 

various 

general 

ERC 

1496023 

2022 

2027 

CIGS 

general 

ERC 

1,986,125  

2017 

2022 

101082176 

VALHALLA 

Perovskite solar cells with enhanced 
stability and applicability 

perovskites 

recycling 

R&I 

3,877,396.50 

2023 

2025 

101039746 

WEPOF 

Watching Excitons in Photoactive 
Organic Frameworks 

various 

integrated 
applications 

ERC 

1499375 

2022 

2027 

843872 

WONDER 

Low-Bandgap Fused Ring Electron 
Acceptors towards High-Efficiency 
Organic Solar Cells 

OPV/DSSC 

general 

MSCA 

203,852  

2019 

2021 

825142 

ZeroR 

Resistance-free charge spreading for 
LEDs and solar cells 

various 

general 

ERC 

150,000  

2019 

2020 

101147547 

101128521 

863724 

97201830 

Printed Perovskite Solar Cells for Large 
Area User Applications 

Ceo allIance Cross-border European 
green hydROgeN valuE chain - Green 
Ammonia infrastructure study 

perovskites 

general 

Coordination 

6,704,170.02 

2024 

2027 

various 

general 

3,377,473.00 

2023 

2024 

Floating Solar Energy mooRing: 
Innovative mooring solutions for 
floating solar energy 

various 

integrated 
applications 

709,409.00 

2019 

2022 

Preparing the port of Karlshamn for the 
next generation of large Ro-Pax vessels 
and provision of onshore power supply 

various 

system 
integration 

3,000,000.00 

2019 

2022 

103 

 
                 
                 
                 
              
                 
                 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

101079550 

101101650 

101101652 

101119113 

101119368 

101119381 

101137163 

101103027 

101038976 

101038836 

101133214 

101038908 

101038919 

101103011 

101038964 

Bilbao Port Net-Zero Green Onshore 
Power System for Comprehensive 
Support & Core TEN-T Cold Ironing 
Capabilities Expansion in the Atlantic 
Corridor 

various 

system 
integration 

14,253,975.90 

2022 

2026 

Southern European EV fast-charging 
network (Italy, France, Spain) 

various 

Southern European EV fast-charging 
network (Portugal) 

various 

system 
integration 

system 
integration 

19,040,000.00 

2022 

2025 

3,660,000.00 

2022 

2025 

Electricity supply infrastructure 
development for the transition to 
environmentally sustainable ground 
operations at Tallinn airport 

Establishment of Electricity Supply and 
Charging Infrastructure in the Baltic 
States’ Airports in North Sea-Baltic CNC 
/ TEN-T Corridor for the Transition to 
Environmentally Friendly Operations 

various 

system 
integration 

1,032,486.00 

2023 

2025 

various 

system 
integration 

3,649,010.00 

2022 

2025 

Accelerate the Central and East 
European Ultra-Fast Charging 

Accelerating on-the-go EV ultra-fast 
charging network in Italy, France, Spain 
and Portugal 

various 

various 

system 
integration 

system 
integration 

The Brouchy Agrivoltaic Canopy - An 
acceleration toward energy transition 

various 

integrated 
applications 

Airborne wind hybrid renewable 
microgrid with RedOX Flow battery to 
provide flat renewable energy to an 
industrial site 

CO2-Free Agriculture for the 
Mediterranean region 

various 

various 

200MW Production of thin-film solar by 
Sweden 

CIGS 

integrated 
applications 

system 
integration 

general 

IF 

IF 

IF 

IF 

15,180,000.00 

2022 

2025 

49,980,000.00 

2023 

2026 

2,756,167.00 

2022 

2026 

2,024,737.00 

2022 

2026 

4,356,000.00 

2022 

2027 

32,265,535.00 

2023 

2030 

various 

general 

IF 

4,347,980.00 

2022 

2029 

Silicon 

Buildings 

IF 

3,733,140.00 

2021 

2027 

Development and operation of a GREEN 
energy community in the port of 
MOTRIL 

Demonstrating manufacturing for 
innovative BIPV roof components 

Demonstrating a novel Energy-as-a-
Service solution for industrial sector 
energy consumers 

airPort sustaInability secONd lifE 
battEry stoRage 

various 

various 

integrated 
applications 

integrated 
applications 

integrated 
applications 

IF 

IF 

IF 

IF 

IF 

IF 

2,614,114.00 

2023 

2027 

3,102,623.00 

2022 

2027 

3,224,824.71 

2023 

2027 

53,600,000.00 

2023 

2030 

117,675,100.00 

2021 

2033 

4,470,000.00 

2023 

2030 

various 

Buildings 

2,622,654.00 

2017 

2023 

104 

101156515 

Solar HEliup Energy for Flat roofTop 

various 

101133050 

NorSun AS: Resource efficient and 
highly innovative n-type mono-Silicon 
wafers for Europe. 

various 

general 

101051356 

ITaliAN PV Giga factOry 

HJT 

general 

101103370 

4724 

Initiating the Production of Green 
Hydrogen for Transport and Other 
Applications in the Czech Republic 

Demonstration of an innovative 
Building Integrated PhotoVoltaic 
system toward net-zero-energy 
buildings 

various 

general 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Id 

Acronym 

Title 

PV 
Technology 

Application 

Action 

EU  
Contribution 
[EUR] 

Start 

End 

4894 

101074260 

SUNALGAE - Innovative process of 
enhancing the efficiency of solar 
panels through the use of algae 

Demonstration of a disruptive solar 
energy (OPV) technology reducing 
battery waste and enabling renewable 
power for IoT applications 

various 

general 

1,633,670.00 

2018 

2023 

OPV 

general 

2,431,502.00 

2022 

2026 

101113574 

LIFE Adaptation with Photovoltaics 

various 

Land use efficient, agriculturally sound 
large scale photovoltaics 

various 

integrated 
applications 

integrated 
applications 

3,499,854.35 

2023 

2027 

3,007,113.59 

2023 

2027 

101113580 

101114040 

101076395 

101077514 

101120960 

Demonstration at pre-commercial level 
of an innovative cable-suspended 
bifacial PV system on artificial water 
bodies, deployable on unexploited lands 
and industrial sites 

various 

integrated 
applications 

1,813,284.06 

2023 

2026 

Joining Actors for LOcal development 
of New large-scale regional energy 
communities 

various 

integrated 
applications 

1,747,388.89 

2022 

2026 

Collaboration between cities/regions 
and energy cooperatives as vehicles to 
accelerate the energy transition 

various 

general 

1,749,177.91 

2022 

2025 

New Skills for Nearly Zero Energy 
Buildings 

various 

integrated 
applications 

932,346.00 

2023 

2026 

105 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex 5 Upstream c-Si technology sector and downstream utility-scale installation 
sector 

Source: (IEA-PVPS, 2023) 

106 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex 6 Sustainability Assessment Framework 

The  detailed  explanation  of  Sustainability  Assessment  Framework  (SAF)  is  available  in  the  report  “Proposal  for  a  Sustainability  Assessment  Framework  for  energy 
technologies” (European  Commission,  2023e),  developed  to  support  the  Clean  Energy  Technology  Observatory  (CETO)  in  the  sustainability  assessment  of  energy 
technologies. In the SAF, sustainability aspects based on the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework are captured and, in the following table, some relevant 
information is reported for photovoltaics. 

Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

Market trend  

No specific guidance is 
available in the context of 
sustainability assessment. 
Assessment based on energy 
statistics and literature review 
for insights on forecasts 

- Energy demand 

- Price of PV modules 

Trade and trade 
balance  

- Trade balance 

At global level, the quantity of energy required by consumers 
and industries can increase due to population and economic 
growth. For the EU, urbanization, increasing levels of 
industrialization and changing comfort preferences can be 
drivers of increased energy demand. More extreme climate 
conditions might also play a role, as they can result in 
increasing/decreasing energy demand, for heating and cooling. 

The reduction in PV module prices has been remarkable. In the 
past 43 years, there is a 24.4 % decrease in module prices 
following each doubling of cumulative PV module production 
(Fraunhofer ISE, 2024).  

According to projections, the global median price of modules 
will decrease from USD 0.32/Wp in 2022 to USD 0.18/Wp in 
2032 (VDMA, 2023). The price of modules decreased 
significantly in 2023 and is expected to stay at low level 
especially considering the continued overcapacities in 
manufacturing (VDMA, 2024). As far as inverters are 
concerned, no significant cost reductions are expected in the 
next ten years impacting the total capital cost of the PV 
systems. Capital cost reductions will be in the range of 35 % 
and will effectively be a result of module price and soft costs 
reductions. Projections for worldwide average utility-scale 
system costs suggested USD 504/kWDC in 2034 (VDMA, 2024). 

The EU maintained its presence amongst the top ten global 
exporters and importers. The intra-EU imports remained at the 
same level (32 % in 2020-2022). 

107 

 
  
 
 
  
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

Cost of energy  

No specific guidance is 
available in the context of 
sustainability assessment. 
Assessment based on energy 
statistics and literature review 
for insights on forecasts. 

CAPEX, OPEX, LCoE 

The EU presence as an importing partner in the global market 
is intensifying as, in 2022, imports almost doubled, and 
exports more than halved compared to the previous year, 
resulting in a trade deficit of almost EUR 22 billion. 

Extra-EU exports are almost stable, since LED were 25 % and 
semiconductors 40 % of the importing streams (COMEXT data, 
see section 4.2) 

Increasing energy demand and limited resource availability 
can result in higher cost, which can threat the affordable 
access to 
energy. Increasing cost of energy can also be driven by 
changes in 
the supply side, due to a variety of events, e.g. natural 
disasters 
impacting energy infrastructures or conflicts and geopolitical 
controversies where resources are used as political weapons, 
as in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of residential, commercial 
rooftop and utility-scale PV systems decreased by 64 %, 69 % 
and 82 % respectively (Feldman et al., 2021). 

CAPEX: In 2022, the PV modules and the mounting /structural 
BoS (including labour and equipment) make up for 65 % of the 
total cost while the soft costs account for the remaining 36 %. 
(VDMA, 2023). In the past 43 years, there is a 24.4 % 
decrease in module prices following each doubling of 
cumulative PV module production (Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). In 
December 2023, the average cost of c-Si modules sold in 
Europe was 93 % lower compared to 2009, while the global 
cumulative installed capacity grew 35-fold between 2010 and 
2023, reaching 1.6 TWp (IRENA, 2024). 

OPEX: The O&M benchmark costs in the US in 2020 are 
reported to be USD 18.7/kWAC/year for commercial ground- 
mounted installations, USD 18.6/kWAC/year for commercial 

108 

 
  
  
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

roof-mounted installations, USD 28.9/kWAC/year for residential 
installations, USD 16.3/kWAC/year for fixed utility-scale 
installations and USD 17.5/kWAC/year for 1- axis tracking 
utility-scale installations (IRENA, 2020b). 

LCoE: After the increase of the global benchmark LCoE  
(levelised cost of electricity) for electricity produced by PV 
systems at the end of 2021 and in 2022, it continued to 
decrease for non-tracking systems to a record low of 
USD2022 41/MWh at the end of 2023 (Jäger-Waldau, 2024). 
The main reason for this was the lower module prices due to 
the oversupply along the value chain. The full range of LCoE 
for non-tracking PV systems varied between USD 34 and 
174/MWh. On the other hand, the global cost benchmark for 
tracking PV systems increased by about 9% in 2023 to 
USD2022 48/MWh. This was due mainly to higher costs for 
labour, balance of systems and financing in the USA. After 
freight costs peaked in Q3 2021 (six fold increase compared 
to H1 2020), they were in the same range as 2020 for most 
of 2023 with a tendency to fall towards the end (Jäger-
Waldau, 2024). 

Some of the raw materials used to manufacture solar cells are 
critical, such as borates, silicon metal, germanium, indium, and 
gallium (Bobba et al., 2020). 

Critical Raw 
Materials (CRMs)  

The periodical EC list of CRMs 
should be use as a reference to 
describe the potential supply 
chain bottlenecks.       

The EC method includes various 
indicators concerning import 
reliance, governance, supply 
concentration, etc.   

These materials are characterized as CRMs for the EU (Dodd 
et al., 2020). Copper, cadmium, selenium, silver and tellurium 
are raw materials used in the PV industry with a low supply 
risk (Bobba et al., 2020). 

Other studies suggest that also boron, molybdenum, 
phosphorus, tin and zinc are raw materials that should be 
closely monitored (European Commission, 2022d). 

Technology-
specific permitting 
requirements 

No specific guidance is 
available in the context of 
sustainability assessment.  

109 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

Skills and 
technology 
development  

Skill development concerns 
four categories:  

1. Skills gap, the distance 
between the skill level in 
society and the skills required 
for the technology 
development and deployment;  

2. Skill obsolescence, the loss 
of skills due to the lack of use, 
or the risk the skills become 
irrelevant;  

3. Skill shortages, when there 
are jobs, but no qualified staff 
in the community;  

4. Over and under skilling, when 
people have skills above or 
below the requirements.  

Not available 

Technology transfer and 
development is the process for 
converting research into 
economic development, or for 
using technology, expertise or 
know-how for a purpose not 
originally intended by the 
developing organization. It is 
fundamental for the 
improvement of social 
conditions and to prevent 
further environmental damage 
related to old technology use. 

Reskilling and upskilling workers is fundamental for the PV 
sector, as many workers are shortly going into retirement. At 
the same time, the needs for workers will continue to grow 
along with the planned manufacturing expansions as well as 
the planned installations in the next years. 

Resilience  

Resilience is the ability to 
reduce and withstand the 

110 

 
  
 
 
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

magnitude and duration of 
disruptive events, which include 
the capability to anticipate, 
adsorb adapt to and/or rapidly 
recover from such an event.  

This aspect can be qualitatively 
assessed taking into account 
the following aspects: diversity 
in the market, suppliers and 
technologies; risk reduction; 
adaptive capacity (Zamagni 
2019). 

Resource 
efficiency and 
recycling  

Circular economy indicators 

Material recovery rates 

In the EU, the treatment of end-of-life PV modules must 
comply with the WEEE Directive since 2012. Several 
organisations have developed recycling processes. 

Several sustainability aspects are being addressed in the 
framework Ecodesign (European Commission, 2022c). 

30 https://www.photorama-project.eu/  

111 

The assessment of the resource 
efficiency and related 
environmental benefits and 
burdens of a pilot PV waste 
recycling processes showed the 
advantages of an innovative PV 
recycling process, compared to 
current recycling processes. 

The benefits are even more 
evident with regard to the 
recovery of silver and silicon 
(critical raw materials). Overall, 
recycling processes with high 
efficiency can recycle up to 83 % 
of the waste panel (Ardente, 
Latunussa and Blengini, 2019). 

An ongoing EU-funded project 
called PHOTORAMA30 is currently 
working to improve the recycling 
of Photovoltaic (PV) panels and 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

recovery of Raw Materials (RM). 
This project is implemented by a 
consortium of 13 organisations in 
the period 2021-2024. 

Energy balance  

Quantitative indicators 

Energy Return on 

Energy Pay Back 

Time (EPBT) 

Energy Invested 

(EROI) 

In the past 24 years, the Energy Payback Time (EPBT) of PV 
has experienced a decrease of 12.8 %. Depending on the 
location and the technology used for the PV system, its EPBT 
can be as low as 0.9 years (South Europe), while in the 
Northern European countries it slightly exceeds the one year 
(Fraunhofer ISE, 2024). 

According to the IEA PVPS Task 12, the Non Renewable Energy 
Payback Time (NREPBT)31 for mono c-Si, poly c-Si, CIS and 
CdTe technology PV system is 1.2, 1.2, 1.3 and 0.9 years 
respectively (Frischknecht and Krebs, 2021). 

For low irradiation locations (1 000 kWh/m2/year), mono c-Si 
module installations have an EPBT of 1.3 years and poly c-Si 
module installations of 1.5 years. For high irradiation 
locations, the EPBT is 0.6 years (Fthenakis and Leccisi, 2021). 

The highest EROI is observed for the CdTe technology in the 
United States, whereas the lowest for CIGS PV systems in 
Japan (Fthenakis and Leccisi, 2022). 

Climate change  

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF)   

Global warming potential (GWP100)  

PV systems 
A recent study from IEA PVPS indicates that, through their 
lifetime, mono c-Si systems emit 42.5 gCO2/kWh, poly c-Si 
systems emit 42.3 gCO2/kWh, CIS systems emit 36.3 
gCO2/kWh and CdTe systems emit 26.5 gCO2/kWh 
(Frischknecht and Krebs, 2021)32. 

PV modules 
In terms of technologies, thin-film modules have the lowest 

31 Non-renewable energy payback time (NREPBT) is defined as the period required for a renewable energy system to generate the same amount of energy (in terms of non-renewable primary energy equivalent) 

that was used to produce the system itself. 

32 Average residential PV system: 1 kWhAC energy, produced with a 3 kWp roof-mounted PV system in Europe (included PV panel, cabling, mounting structure, inverter and system installation), 975 kWh/kWp annual 

production, linear degradation 0.7% per year, service life: panel 30 years, inverter 15 years. Module efficiencies assumed: mono c-Si: 19.5 %, poly c-Si: 18 %, CIS: 16 % and CdTe: 18 %. 

112 

 
  
  
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

emissions, followed by poly c-Si and then mono c-Si. There is 
considerable scope to reduce these values, and projections for 
2050 indicate that life cycle emissions for PV can drop to 
10 gCO2eq/kWh and below (Pehl et al., 2017). 

Based on assumptions for different parameters (silicon 
content, yield over time and energy mix of the manufacturing 
phase), mono c-Si emit between 1133 and 4834 gCO2eq/kWh 
and poly c-Si between 1835 and 4936 gCO2eq/kWh (Polverini et 
al., 2023). 

The partial adjustment of some technical parameters for PV 
modelling based on LCI and LCA outdated datasets leads to 
significant overestimation of the environmental impacts of PV 
technologies. For this reason a careful and in depth 
examination and update is crucial to obtain realistic results. 
The amount of silicon use in the production of c-Si modules, 
the wafer thickness and the kerf play a significant role. A 
moderate wafer thickness reduction from 180µ in 2010 to 
approximately 170µ in 2021 and a notable silicon usage 
reduction from 7 g/Wp in 2010 to 2.5 g/Wp in 2021, 
contributed to a lower carbon footprint (Fraunhofer ISE, 2022). 
New approaches indicate that the carbon footprint of 
crystalline technology may be notably lower and between 13 
and 30 gCO2eq/kWh (Müller et al., 2021). 

Ozone depletion    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF)  

Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)    

Particulate 
matter/Respiratory 
inorganics    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Human health effects associated 
with exposure to PM2.5 

33 Assumptions: hydropower (best) scenario, high yield (6 730 kWh/m2), 588 g Si content. 
34 Assumptions: hard coal (worst) scenario, low yield (5 540 kWh/m2), 1 080 g Si content. 
35 Assumptions: hydropower (best) scenario, high yield (5 920 kWh/m2), 646 g Si content. 
36 Assumptions: hard coal (worst) scenario, low yield (5 120 kWh/m2), 833 g Si content. 

113 

There are materials used in the 
manufacturing procedure covered 
by dispositions under the REACH 
regulation (lead in c-Si and 
perovskites, cadmium in CdTe, 

 
  
 
 
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

etc.) (Tchognia Nkuissi et al., 2019; 
Gebhardt et al., 2022). 

Also, chemicals and solvents are 
used throughout the 
manufacturing processes of 
different PV technologies 
(Tawalbeh et al., 2021). 

The back-sheet layer of the PV 
panel may contain halogenated 
plastic layer that can pose 
potential waste management 
problems (Latunussa et al., 2016; 
Ardente, Latunussa and Blengini, 
2019) (Latunussa et al., 2016; 
Ardente, Latunussa and Blengini, 
2019). 

In the case of thin film PV module 
technologies, there are some 
hazards that need to be taken into 
consideration. These hazards 
include the toxicity and 
explosiveness of specific gases. 
Health issues for workers (and 
public health in extreme cases) 
from accidents or elusive air 
emissions may arise if proper 
measures are not taken. However, 
the proper manufacturing 
procedures together with the use 
of less toxic materials ensure the 
avoidance of accidental releases 
of toxic gases and vapours that 
may potentially put in danger the 
health of humans and the air 

114 

 
  
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

Ionising radiation, 
human health 

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF)  

Human exposure to 235U    

Photochemical 
ozone formation    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Tropospheric ozone concentration 
increase    

Acidification    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Accumulated Exceedance (AE)    

Eutrophication, 
terrestrial    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Accumulated Exceedance (AE)    

Eutrophication, 
aquatic 
freshwater  

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Fraction of nutrients reaching 
freshwater end compartment (P)   

Eutrophication, 
aquatic marine    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Fraction of nutrients reaching 
marine end compartment (N)    

quality (Tchognia Nkuissi et al., 
2019). 

Soil health may be influenced in a 
negative way by manual and 
automated cleaning that uses 
mostly water to remove debris 
that accumulates on the surface 
of the PV panels (Tawalbeh et al., 
2021). 

Land use    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Soil quality index37 aggregating: 
Biotic production, Erosion resistance, 
Mechanical filtration and 
Groundwater replenishment   

1.9 hectares/MW (IRENA, 2020b).  

1-2 hectares/MWp (IFC, 2015). 

Water use    

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

User deprivation potential 
(deprivation weighted water 
consumption)    

PV modules 
The available reported water consumption of PV module 
technologies in studies is considered outdated due to the rapid 
technological advancements of PV. Results for the impact 

A 2017 IEA PVPS report, based on 
LCIs from 2010 and 2013, reports 
that the share of consumptive 
water use during the life cycle of 
mono c-Si and CdTe rooftop 

37 Average residential system 

115 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

category water use are available also in the PEFCR for PV 
panels (European Commission, 2019). 

PV 
technologies 

Life cycle excl. 
use stage 
Water use 
(l worldeq/kWh) 

Use stage 
Water use 
(l worldeq/kWh) 

Representative 
(virtual) 

product 

CdTe 

CIGS 

Micromorphous 
silicon 

Polycrystalline 
silicon 

22.8 

4.30 

6.27 

11.2 

19.6 

Monocrystalline 
silicon 

31.7 

0.158 

0.161 

0.209 

0.226 

0.154 

0.150 

systems, defined as the amount 
of water consumed divided by the 
volume of water withdrawn, is 
20 % and 34 % respectively (Stolz 
et al., 2017). 

According to the most recent IEA 
PVPS report on water use of PV 
module systems over their 
lifetime, systems with mono c-Si 
modules consume 7.49 l/kWh, 
systems with poly c-Si modules 
consume 6.71 l/kWh while 
systems with CIS modules 
consume 6.27 l/kWh and systems 
with CdTe modules 3.08 l/kWh 
(Frischknecht and Krebs, 2021).38 

PV systems withdraw and 
consume between 2 % and 15 % 
of the water consumed by coal or 
nuclear plants for 1 MWh of 
generated electricity (Lohrmann et 
al., 2019). 

PV system operation 
Water consumption for the operation of PV systems has been 
reported to be 0.08 l/kWh for utility-scale PV installations and 
3.3 l/kWh for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) installation in 
the US (Solar Energy Industries Association, 2022).  

Resource use, 
minerals and 
metals   

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF) 

Abiotic resource depletion (ADP 
ultimate reserves)    

No information  

38 Average residential system 

116 

 
  
 
 
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

Resource use, 
energy carriers   

LCA / Product Environmental 
Footprint (PEF)  

Abiotic resource depletion - fossil 
fuels (ADP-fossil)  

Not available 

Biodiversity  

Descriptive, based on current 
EU legislation 

The European Commission has 
published a report on the potential 
impacts of PV applications on the 
ecosystem and the biodiversity 
(Lammerant, Laureysens and 
Driesen, 2020). 

The EU biodiversity strategy 
specifically mentions solar-panel 
farms providing biodiversity-
friendly soil cover as a win-win 
solution for energy and 
biodiversity. 

Any intervention on water bodies 
must respect the conditions set 
out in the Water Framework 
Directive and the Marine Strategy 
Framework Directive (European 
Commission, 2020a). 

Child labour    

The assessment of this aspect 
can be performed looking at 
the main suppliers and 
countries involved in the 
production of raw materials, 
intermediate products and 
components used in PV 

Percentage of working children 
under the legal age or 15 years old 
(total, male and female) – country 
level 

No information 

Forced labour    

The assessment of this aspect 
can be performed looking at 
the main suppliers and 
countries involved in the 
production of raw materials, 

Frequency of forced labour 
(estimated  prevalence of 
population in modern slavery, 
victims per 1,000 population) - 
country level  

Concerns have risen over the years regarding forced labour 
particularly in the Uyghur Region in China, which now accounts 
for approximately 35 % of the world’s polysilicon (down from 
45 %) and as much as 32 % of global metallurgical grade 
silicon production. The vast majority of modules produced 

117 

 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

intermediate products and 
components used in PV 

globally continues to have exposure to the Uyghur Region 
(Crawford and Murphy, 2023). 

Equal 
opportunities / 
discrimination    

Reference scale   

Freedom of 
association and 
collective 
bargaining    

Reference scale   

Working hours    

Reference scale   

Fair salary    

Health and 
safety     

One third of the total jobs in renewable energies is in the PV 
sector (IEA PVPS, 2024b). Women represent 40 % of the total 
employees in the PV sector, the highest share in all renewable 
energies and oil and gas sector. Most women in the PV sector 
are employed in administrative positions (58 %), followed by 
non-STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) 
technical positions. The share of women in STEM jobs is 32 % 
(the global average is 35 % (IRENA and ILO, 2023). 

Gender wage gap (%) - country level 

Women in the labour force (ratio) – 

country/sector level 

Right to strike / Right to association 
/ Right of collective bargaining 
(point in scale)   

Trade union density (%) 

Hours of work per employee and 
week (hours)  

Sector average wage, per month  

Living wage, per month   

Minimum wage, per month 
(Eur/month)  

No information 

No information 

country/sector level  

No information 

Rate of fatal and non-fatal 
accidents at workplace (# per 
100,000 employees)  

- country/sector level 

118 

Health issues for workers (and 
public health in extreme cases) 
from accidents or elusive air 
emissions may arise if proper 
measures are not taken. However, 
the proper manufacturing 
procedures together with the use 
of less toxic materials ensure the 
avoidance of accidental releases 
of toxic gases and vapours that 

 
  
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

may potentially put in danger the 
health of humans and the air 
quality (Tchognia Nkuissi et al., 
2019). 

Responsible 
materials sourcing  

Descriptive, should look at 
severe risks in technologies 
value chains and can be based 
on due diligence guidance for 
minerals supply chain (OECD, 
2016).  

Competition for 
material resources 
(incl. water, land, 
food)  and 
indigenous rights  

Descriptive, based on 
narratives and literature 
review.  

The OECD Guidance indicates areas 
of risks to be taken into account in a 
due diligence process, through a 
qualitative assessment. 

No information 

Insights from the Environmental 
justice Atlas  

Contribution to 
economic 
development 
(including 
employment)   

GVA + Employment   

% of GDP 
(positive impact)  

The gross value added (GVA) is an economic productivity 
metric that measures the contribution of a corporate 
subsidiary, company, or municipality to an economy, producer, 
sector, or region. EU’s GVA in PV exhibited a CAGR of 24 % 
between 2016 and 2022 (from EUR 4.6 to EUR 17 billion). 
Germany is again the leading EU market (EUR 5.8 billion), 
followed by Spain (EUR 1.7 billion) in 2022 (EurObserv’ER, 
2024a). 

It has to be noted that the level of 
automation is constantly 
increasing. Regarding the 
deployment sector, jobs may be 
less stable than in the 
manufacturing sector but can 
benefit local communities and 
economies. 

Employment data differ significantly based on the data 
source. Therefore, caution is advised when evaluating the 
data. EU PV jobs in 2022 vary between 500 000 and 826 000, 
depending on the source and the methodology behind the 
analysis. IRENA and SolarPower Europe report 719 000 and 
826 000 PV jobs in 2023. The IEA-PVPS reports 500 000 and 
7 200 000 PV jobs in the EU and in the world respectively for 
the same year. EU’s share is therefore 7 % of the global jobs 
in the PV sector. Most of the jobs (84 %) is in deployment of 
PV. In the manufacturing sector, 73 % of the jobs are related 
to inverter production. The EU countries with the highest 

119 

 
  
 
 
  
 
  
Sustainability 
aspect  

Method/approach  

Indicators     

Assessment of photovoltaics  

Additional insights   

Affordable energy 
access  

Several indicators/methods 
exist, but no specific guidance 
is available in the context of 
sustainability assessment. 

Public 
acceptance    

Descriptive, based on 
narratives and literature 
review   

Insights from the Environmental   
justice Atlas  

Rural 
development      

While specific guidance in the 
context of sustainability 
assessment is not available, 
relevant indicators can be 
selected from the FAO 
Guidelines on defining rural 
areas and compiling indicators 
for development policy ( 2018), 
adapting them to capture the 
impact of Energy technologies 
on rural development. 

Example of indicators from the FAO 
report, based on SDGs: 

-Proportion of population below the 
international poverty line 

-Prevalence of moderate or severe 
food insecurity in the population 

- Proportion of population with 
access to electricity 

- Proportion of population with 
primary reliance on clean fuels and 
technology 

number of employees in the PV sector are Germany and 
Poland, accounting for 19 % and 14 % of the EU’s PV 
employees, respectively. China remains the country with the 
highest number of employees in PV with 65 % share of the 
global PV employment (SolarPower Europe, 2021a, 2022, 
2023b, 2024a; IEA-PVPS, 2021, 2022, 2023; IRENA and ILO, 
2021, 2022, 2023, 2024; EurObserv’ER, 2022, 2024a; IEA 
PVPS, 2024b). 

Photovoltaics are generally accepted by the public as public 
awareness has increased the in last years (oppositions are 
expressed mostly for aesthetical reasons). However, there are 
still oppositions regarding mainly emerging applications like 
agrivoltaics and floating photovoltaics (competition to 
agricultural use of land and fishing, biodiversity and 
environmental impact concerns). 

Agrivoltaics can significantly boost EU’s rural development and 
economy.  

120 

 
  
  
 
  
  
   
 
 
Annex  7  List  of  EU  companies  for  polysilicon,  ingot,  wafer,  cell  and  module 
production equipment and for module components, tracking systems and inverters 

Segment 

Company (Country) 

Polysilicon production equipment 

ECM Technologies (FR) 

Ingot production equipment  

Arnold Group (DE) 

R2D Automation (FR) 

Siemens (DE) 

Jonas & Redmann (DE) 

Schmid-Group (DE) 

Wafer production equipment  

ZS Handling (DE) 

Decker (DE) 

Hennecke Systems (DE) 

Von Ardenne (DE) 

PSS/Lapmaster Wolters (DE) 

ECM GREENTECH S.A.S. (FR) 

Singulus (DE) 

Siemens (DE) 

Cell production equipment  

Centrotherm (DE) 

Schmid-Group (DE) 

Jonas & Redmann (DE) 

RENA (DE) 

Mondragon Assembly (ES) 

Solean (FR) 

Ecoprogetti (IT) 

Module production equipment  

Teknisolar (IT) 

Eurotron (NL) 

SM-InnoTech (DE) 

PVA Tepla (DE) 

121 

 
Segment 

Company (Country) 

Module components  

Tracking systems  

J.v.G. Technology GmbH (DE) 

Siemens (DE) 

M10 Solar equipment (DE) 

Team Technik (DE) 

Schmid-Group (DE) 

Burkle (DE) 

Schiller-automation (DE) 

Manz (DE) 

Viasolis (LT) 

Sunified (NL) 

Interfloat (DE) 

Dunmore (DE) 

Satinal (IT) 

Coveme (IT) 

Mounting Systems GmbH (DE) 

DEGER ENERGIE GMBH & CO. KG (DE) 

Ideematec Deutschland GmbH (DE) 

Schletter Solar GmbH (DE) 

Soltigua S.r.l (IT) 

Comal (IT) 

Convert Italia (IT) 

Optimum Tracker (FR) 

Nexans Solar Technologies (FR) 

Arcellor Mittal Exosun (FR) 

Deger Iberica (ES) 

Stansol Energy (ES) 

STI Norland S.L. (ES) 

122 

 
Segment 

Company (Country) 

PVH PV Hardware Solutions S.L. (ES) 

Axial Structural Solutions (ES) 

Soltec Energías Renovables S.L. (ES) 

Deger Iberica (ES) 

Fimer (IT) 

Fronius (AT) 

Ingeteam (ES) 

Power Electronics (ES) 

Kostal (DE) 

SMA (DE) 

Kaco (DE) 

Refu (DE) 

Steca (DE) 

Inverters 

Source: SolarPower Europe 

Sungrow – Repair centre (DE) 

123 

 
 
 
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