Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ETIP PV Secretariat (Support to all stakeholders from the Photovoltaic sector and related sectors to contribute to the SET-Plan)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-09-01 bis 2024-02-29
Whether at global or European scale, electricity is the cornerstone of the clean energy transition and sustainable development. Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy and wind energy are the key technologies to deliver this electricity in sufficient (i.e. very large) quantities, at affordable cost, in an environmentally & societally sustainable way. Their massive rollout, their integration into the energy system, integration into our living environment, as well as circularity of the entire value chain are needed in order to lead the energy transition successfully.
Maintaining a high level of excellence in the European solar PV ecosystem is a key success factor for a strong solar PV industry3. Although the global PV market has grown rapidly for decades already, most of the global deployment is yet to come. Only around 1 to 2% of the cumulative PV capacity anticipated in 2050 has been installed so far. This illustrates the huge opportunities for the PV sector, in manufacturing, installation and all other parts of the value chain. In a context where currently almost all PV cells and modules are produced outside Europe (over 97%) and in particular in China (over 70%), and where there is still plenty of room for breakthrough concepts in technology, manufacturing and applications, it is essential to develop a manufacturing industry, going hand in hand with a research & innovation strategy that will ensure Europe’s strong position in this sector. Building upon the strong momentum offered by the Solar Manufacturing Accelerator launched in 2020 by key stakeholders of the European PV value chain (SPE, ETIP PV, ESMC, IPVF and VDMA), it gathers today the support of Commissioners Thierry Breton and Kadri Simson.
ETIP PV is the only independent pan-European organisation to support highest value solar PV-related knowledge generation, further development and deployment of PV technology, and the strengthening of its European sector. Now that global PV is entering a (multi-)Terawatt-scale and starts to make a real difference in terms of climate change mitigation, enhancing security of supply, creating quality jobs and more, it is crucial for Europe to remain or again become a strong player in all parts of the PV value chain.
Maintaining a high level of excellence in the European solar PV ecosystem is a key success factor for a strong solar PV industry3. Although the global PV market has grown rapidly for decades already, most of the global deployment is yet to come. Only around 1 to 2% of the cumulative PV capacity anticipated in 2050 has been installed so far. This illustrates the huge opportunities for the PV sector, in manufacturing, installation and all other parts of the value chain. In a context where currently almost all PV cells and modules are produced outside Europe (over 97%) and in particular in China (over 70%), and where there is still plenty of room for breakthrough concepts in technology, manufacturing and applications, it is essential to develop a manufacturing industry, going hand in hand with a research & innovation strategy that will ensure Europe’s strong position in this sector. Building upon the strong momentum offered by the Solar Manufacturing Accelerator launched in 2020 by key stakeholders of the European PV value chain (SPE, ETIP PV, ESMC, IPVF and VDMA), it gathers today the support of Commissioners Thierry Breton and Kadri Simson.
ETIP PV is the only independent pan-European organisation to support highest value solar PV-related knowledge generation, further development and deployment of PV technology, and the strengthening of its European sector. Now that global PV is entering a (multi-)Terawatt-scale and starts to make a real difference in terms of climate change mitigation, enhancing security of supply, creating quality jobs and more, it is crucial for Europe to remain or again become a strong player in all parts of the PV value chain.
The ETIP PV will continue to serve as catalyst to grand challenges in the frame of Energy Union and under the SET Plan. ETIP PV gathers all the relevant stakeholders of the research, materials, equipment and manufacturing PV sector, together with actors active in the downstream installations business, with arrangements for cooperative discussions with member states (MS), associated countries (AC), and the Commission services. Its main role is to provide consensus-based strategic advice on all issues relevant to progressing research and innovation (R&I) efforts.
The main performed work of the EUPV+ will focus on:
- Consolidating Research members’ engagement in ETIP PV community through the development of a comprehensive strategy for the research in the field.
- Strengthening the EU industry (private sector) members’ engagement in ETIP PV across the PV sector value chain.
- Ensuring research priorities promoted by ETIP PV are aligned with Europe’s strategic interest in PV across the whole value chain
- Ensuring that ETIP PV is the recognised and trusted voice of the European PV Research and Innovation community in Europe and globally
- Setting the basis for a self-sustainable ETIP beyond the lifetime of the project
- Ensuring top-quality information related to solar PV industry, research and innovation is made available to the targeted audiences.
This will be achieved by a pro-active ETIP PV secretariat team which will provide an efficient, impartial and transparent management of the platform. The ETIP PV Secretariat will support the functioning of ETIP PV to ensure the generation of high-quality outcomes and playing an active role in the development of key ETIP PV public documents and other activities, such as events.
The main performed work of the EUPV+ will focus on:
- Consolidating Research members’ engagement in ETIP PV community through the development of a comprehensive strategy for the research in the field.
- Strengthening the EU industry (private sector) members’ engagement in ETIP PV across the PV sector value chain.
- Ensuring research priorities promoted by ETIP PV are aligned with Europe’s strategic interest in PV across the whole value chain
- Ensuring that ETIP PV is the recognised and trusted voice of the European PV Research and Innovation community in Europe and globally
- Setting the basis for a self-sustainable ETIP beyond the lifetime of the project
- Ensuring top-quality information related to solar PV industry, research and innovation is made available to the targeted audiences.
This will be achieved by a pro-active ETIP PV secretariat team which will provide an efficient, impartial and transparent management of the platform. The ETIP PV Secretariat will support the functioning of ETIP PV to ensure the generation of high-quality outcomes and playing an active role in the development of key ETIP PV public documents and other activities, such as events.
The EUPV+ proposal aims at fostering cohesion of the stakeholders involved in the PV sector through the organisation of regular meetings of the members of ETIP PV and of meetings with stakeholders outside ETIP PV in the form of public workshops or conferences.
The project will put an emphasis on enabling the ETIP PV to play a key role in aligning R&I and industrial strategy priorities and thus help to make sure that research results end up in actual manufacturing projects. The EUPV+ action will support the ETIP PV to write down these agreements in the form of published reports with key outputs and recommendations for the European Commission and Member States.
EUPV+ will support the ETIP PV Steering Committee in this direction and will continue to make the ETIP PV a key representative body in Europe. The project will ensure that the work of the ETIP PV working groups contribute to this overarching goal: the subjects of quality and reliability, Integrated PV, digitalization, grid integration and more should also deliver intelligence and recommendations to support the rebirth of the European manufacturing industry. Strong synergies will be built with the European Solar Initiative, the industrial alliance launched by SolarPower Europe and EIT InnoEnergy with the objective of re-establishing a sizeable manufacturing capacity in the EU along the full value chain to ensure a structured and regular dialogue is established with EU manufacturers.
The project will put an emphasis on enabling the ETIP PV to play a key role in aligning R&I and industrial strategy priorities and thus help to make sure that research results end up in actual manufacturing projects. The EUPV+ action will support the ETIP PV to write down these agreements in the form of published reports with key outputs and recommendations for the European Commission and Member States.
EUPV+ will support the ETIP PV Steering Committee in this direction and will continue to make the ETIP PV a key representative body in Europe. The project will ensure that the work of the ETIP PV working groups contribute to this overarching goal: the subjects of quality and reliability, Integrated PV, digitalization, grid integration and more should also deliver intelligence and recommendations to support the rebirth of the European manufacturing industry. Strong synergies will be built with the European Solar Initiative, the industrial alliance launched by SolarPower Europe and EIT InnoEnergy with the objective of re-establishing a sizeable manufacturing capacity in the EU along the full value chain to ensure a structured and regular dialogue is established with EU manufacturers.