Clean Energy Technology Observatory, Photovoltaics in the European Union: status report on technology development, trends, value chains and markets : 2024

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.