Western Europe Photovoltaic Module Project

An EU-funded project has developed a European version of high-efficiency, next-generation solar technology and a low-cost manufacturing process. The innovative solar cells could boost a switch to solar energy and recharge European solar-panel production.

Holosolis announced Europe's largest PV module gigafactory, to be built in Moselle, France. Aiming to accelerate Europe's solar PV manufacturing capabilities to ensure continental energy security, the new production site will see the capacity of Europe's current largest factory bested by almost 70%.

The new factory aims to produce over 7.6 GW of high-efficiency photovoltaic modules within its first 10 years of operation. This will make a significant contribution to Europe's energy transition goals, as the EU targets 49% of energy in the building sector to come from renewable sources by 2030.

European policy is shifting from encouraged deployment to mandatory deployment, and the window for incentives in commercial and industrial solar is undergoing a structural contraction.

Europe is now closer to having its own version of this technology. The EU-funded NEXTBASE project has developed highly efficient IBC solar cells in the silicon heterojunction configuration (IBC-SHJ). The NEXTBASE cells can convert 25.4 % of the solar energy they capture into power.

The EU-funded Laperitivo project aims for 22% efficiency in 900 cm² opaque perovskite modules and 20% efficiency in semi-transparent ones. The project partners include imec, Fraunhofer ISE, TotalEnergies, and EDF. The EU-funded Laperitivo project, focused on manufacturing large-area stable perovskite solar modules, began earlier this month.