A joint letter and position paper from the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) calls for stronger policy, market and financing conditions to support manufacturing across the full European solar value chain.
The documents have been shared with Members of the European Parliament as they consider the Industrial Accelerator Act. They argue that strengthening Europe’s solar manufacturing base requires action across the entire value chain, including polysilicon, ingots, wafers and cells, rather than focusing only on the assembly of finished solar panels.
The ESMC position paper calls for three key measures:
- A strong and swiftly implemented Industrial Accelerator Act, with a clear definition of Made in Europe and coverage of the full solar value chain.
- Measures to address structural overcapacity, foreign subsidies and dumping.
- Financial and operating support that can help unlock private investment in European manufacturing.
The position paper links these measures to Europe’s wider energy security and industrial resilience. As Europe reduces its dependence on imported fossil fuels, strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity can help avoid creating new strategic dependencies in the technologies and critical materials needed for the energy transition.
Strengthening Europe’s polysilicon supply
The EU Net-Zero Industry Act sets a benchmark for European manufacturing capacity to approach or reach at least 40% of annual deployment needs for net-zero technologies by 2030.
The ESMC position paper highlights an important vulnerability within the solar supply chain: European polysilicon production at scale is currently concentrated in a single producer, whose capacity also serves the semiconductor industry.
The position paper references RESiLICON’s planned ultra-pure polysilicon production in the Netherlands as additional European capacity that would help diversify supply at this critical upstream stage of the value chain.
RESiLICON has already been recognised as a Net-Zero Strategic Project under the EU Net-Zero Industry Act, reflecting the strategic importance of developing new European polysilicon capacity. The Industrial Accelerator Act could complement this by helping create stronger market demand and investment conditions for European manufacturing.
The ESMC initiative builds on discussions initiated by RESiLICON earlier this year, bringing together companies from across the solar value chain and European equipment manufacturers.
Remco Rijn, CEO of RESiLICON, commented: “Europe cannot build a resilient solar industry if critical parts of the value chain remain concentrated in too few hands. We need the right market and investment conditions to turn European industrial plans into reality.”
Read the full ESMC position paper here.
Image: ESMC graphic
