I have already asked if the sun is setting on wind energy and now it seems we have to ask the same question about the European solar industry. A recent Politico article headline suggests (in a rather strange choice of words) that a “drowning” solar industry needs to be rescued (the body of the article says that it is “dying” rather than “drowning”). Whichever word is more apt, it seems clear that the European solar industry is in deep trouble.
So much so that we are told that the EU is urging its members to sign a joint declaration pledging to revive it. The article is quite an eye-opener, given that the mainstream media is so keen to have us believe that renewable energy is cheap and the way forward. The main points can be summarised shortly as follows:
EU solar firms are worried about an imminent collapse of their industry. In part this is said to be due to “heavily subsidised” Chinese competition. Of course, while such subsidies might be playing a role (as might the Chinese use of Uighur slave labour), no doubt the fact that Chinese energy is cheap (because they use a lot of coal) and energy within Europe is expensive (because they use a lot of renewable energy) is also highly relevant. The other issue, we are told, is a supply glut within the EU. I take that to mean that the supply of solar is significantly more than the demand for it. After years of propaganda, in other words, solar panels aren’t all that popular.
Reference is made to Meyer Burger’s recent announcement that it intends to cease module production in Germany. The text, according to pv magazine is as follows:
With a deteriorating market environment in Europe, continuing with full-scale European solar manufacturing is not sustainable for the time being. Part of the plan would unfortunately be the closure of one of Europe’s largest operational solar module production sites in Freiberg, Germany, as early as beginning of April 2024, affecting approximately 500 people.
The letter sent by the EU Commission to the energy ministers of member states talks of “the current worsening of the situation” and seeks “the signature of a declaration committing to take concrete actions to support the EU solar production.”
The Politico article suggests that the situation is so bad that this won’t placate solar manufacturers within the EU:
For months, the industry has been urging the Commission to spearhead an emergency buyout of inventories and further relax EU subsidy rules.
The EU seems to be talking about measures which are fairly obviously aimed at China, such as setting up state-led project auctions to promote the production of solar panels with “high environmental, innovation and labour standards.”
The conclusion, however, is that the situation is so dire that:
To keep the sector alive, argued Dries Acke, policy director at the SolarPower Europe lobby, the Commission “needs to become more concrete very soon” with plans to unlock EU cash.
Money. It’s always about money. Weren’t we assured that net zero would make us all better off?
Climate Scepticism 
A shame all those Green jobs the Nut Zero brigade promised us are all in China…
One wonders if they knew tat was going to happen all along.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Europe’s Green Energy Ambitions Clouded by Surplus Chinese Solar Panels”
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/03/24/europes-green-energy-ambitions-clouded-by-surplus-chinese-solar-panels/
LikeLike
“EU rebuffs solar pleas as sector goes broke, document shows
But Brussels does plan to boost long-term funding for solar firms, a document seen by POLITICO shows.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-solar-energy-sector-document/
“Goodbye and goodnight.
That’s the European Union’s veiled message to its dying solar manufacturers in a draft declaration seen by POLITICO.
Chinese mass manufacturing has brought Europe’s solar makers to their knees and had prompted them to turn to Brussels for help. But while the European Commission, the EU’s executive, is set to back increased EU funding for the solar sector and consider relaxing some state aid rules, it won’t commit to the urgent support measures industry leaders want, according to the upcoming “European Solar Charter.”
The approach will inevitably disappoint manufacturers who have already begun laying off hundreds of workers, even as it tries to craft a long-term plan to revive the industry.
The EU’s module producers — which assemble the final solar panel from parts made elsewhere — have warned for months that China’s dominance over manufacturing globally was causing a supply glut in the bloc that’s seen prices tumble and left them unable to compete...”
LikeLike
“Losing hope of rescue, some European solar firms head to US”
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/losing-hope-rescue-some-european-solar-firms-head-us-2024-04-15/
“European governments due to move to support their solar power manufacturers this week will be too late to stop solar panel maker Meyer Burger packing up a German factory to send production to the United States.
The plant in Freiberg in eastern Germany closed in mid-March with the loss of 500 jobs, as the Swiss-listed firm joined a growing list of European renewable energy manufacturing factories shutting down or moving. In the past year, at least 10 have said they are in financial difficulties.
On a recent visit to the site, giant white robotic arms hung dormant over empty wooden pallets as workers prepared the last production line for shutdown. Talks with the German federal government to try to secure a future for the factory ended without success in late March, a company spokesperson told Reuters.
Germany’s economy ministry said it was aware of the “very serious situation” of German companies and has been examining funding options with the industry for over a year. It agreed to give Meyer Burger an export credit guarantee for equipment produced in Germany to be used at the U.S. factories, which will help a site nearby but won’t save the Freiberg one.
The closure, which in one sweep reduced European solar panel production by 10%, opens new tab, comes despite a boom in wind and solar energy in Europe. Additions to renewable energy capacity, including solar panels, are running at record pace, opens new tab, according to data from the International Energy Agency.
But Europe-based manufacturers that supply those panels are being crushed by competition from China and the U.S., whose governments give more support to their producers...”
LikeLike
I have taken the liberty of re-posting Jit’s comment on another thread here:
From the DT’s business feed today:
…
DT link
LikeLike
It’s not just solar panels….Well worth a read:
“Is China cannibalising the EU car industry?
Troubles at VW point to growing doubts about future of Europe-wide sector as imports of cheap EVs rise”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/20/is-china-cannibalising-the-eu-car-industry
LikeLike
https://irinaslav.substack.com/p/leeches-out
…Cheap, green solar, besides not being very green, is not cheap at all. It literally cannot survive without government support in the form of taxpayers’ money. The Czech Republic is simply the latest that has been forced to admit it openly.
The problem: the Czech government is cutting solar subsidies and because it’s really out of money, it’s cutting them retroactively, which has prompted a great big, loud wail from the solar industry.…
LikeLike
This is in German, so google translate may be required:
“25 Years of the Renewable Energy Sources Act – Between Subsidies, Migration and Electricity Price Explosion”
https://blackout-news.de/aktuelles/25-jahre-eeg-zwischen-subventionen-abwanderung-und-strompreisexplosion/
…Germany was once considered the world champion in solar energy. Companies like Q-Cells, Solarworld, and Conergy dominated the market – until they collapsed under the weight of Chinese competition and homegrown perverse incentives. Almost the entire German solar industry is now insolvent, sold off, or relocated. Little remains of the highly subsidized structures except an import-dependent installation industry. Over 80 percent of solar module production now takes place in China – Germany has completely lost its technological lead.…
…After 25 years of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the balance sheet is sobering. Germany has invested billions without creating lasting industrial structures. Its former pioneering role has been lost, while dependence on China is increasing. Technological sovereignty has been abandoned, and economic promises have not been fulfilled. The energy transition has neither lowered electricity prices nor triggered a “green economic miracle”—on the contrary: it has made the energy supply more fragile and expensive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“US sets tariffs of up to 3,521% on South East Asia solar panels”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ygdv47vlzo
The US Commerce Department has announced plans to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on imports of solar panels from four South East Asian countries.
It comes after an investigation that began a year ago when several major solar equipment producers asked then-President Joe Biden administration to protect their US operations.
The proposed levies – targeting companies in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam – are in response to allegations of subsidies from China and the dumping of unfairly cheap products in the US market.
A separate US government agency, the International Trade Commission, is due to reach a final decision on the new tariffs in June….
If this goes ahead, I suspect the result will be dumping of solar panels on Europe by China. And that will probably the signal the end of any meaningful solar panel manufacturing industry in the UK and the EU.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A typical Guardian piece, gushing over the new renewables infrastructure installed in a short period by China. And if true, the statistics are indeed impressive (assuming vast arrays of environmentally-destructive renewables are something to be impressed by – the photo accompanying the article is horrendous).
“China breaks more records with surge in solar and wind power
Between January and May, China added 198 GW of solar and 46 GW of wind, enough to generate as much electricity as Indonesia or Turkey”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/26/china-breaks-more-records-with-massive-build-up-of-wind-and-solar-power
We do get the admission, tucked away in the article:
…China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases…
However, the bit I found interesting is the implicit admission that China is deliberately under-pricing its solar panels and is losing money on them. Is this to guarantee that other countries can’t compete?:
…In the first quarter of this year, China’s five biggest solar companies reported a combined loss of over 8bn yuan, according to Bloomberg. At a recent conference, Yang Liyou, the general manager of Jinneng Technology, described the industry as being in a “death cycle”, according to Chinese media.
LikeLike