Ref. Ares(2020)2281787 - 29/04/2020
Ref. Ares(2022)917717 - 08/02/2022
Dear Energy Ministers,
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting all European citizens, businesses and local authorities,
including the thousands of workers and SMEs in the solar industry. While the priority must be
addressing the immediate health consequences of the population, it is also essential to take strong
political action, and make significant investments in order to restart Europe’s economies.
As requested by the Joint Statement of the Members of the European Council from 26
March, the European recovery package should support the European green and digital
transition, putting the continent back on track for green and prosperous growth. The solar
industry stands ready to contribute to a green economic recovery.
Solar is set to become the dominant source of electricity generation in a climate-neutral Europe,
with the potential to power over 60% of electricity generated in Europe by 2050.1 Solar energy in
Europe has entered an unprecedented era of growth, with 16,7 GW of new installed capacity in
2019, corresponding to an increase of more than 100% compared to 2018. Between 2019 and
2023, nearly 100 GW new solar capacity could be installed in Europe. Such important market
prospects also generate a new momentum for manufacturing projects in the solar segment,
sustained by the EU leadership in cutting-edge technologies such as heterojunction cells,
perovskite tandem cells, and inverters.
The solar value chain could create 1.5 million jobs across Europe by 2030, including in regions
undergoing economic restructuring, where workers can be easily up skilled to ensure the
installation, operation, and maintenance of solar projects.
The current coronavirus pandemic jeopardises these promising solar developments in the
short- to medium-term. As of today, solar PV projects are significantly delayed due to supply chain disruptions, restrictions
on the movement of workers, and impeded administrative procedures. The development of new
projects, or closing of ongoing project proposals, is hampered by the fact that financing is currently
more difficult to access.
In the medium term, the economic crisis could negatively impact the small-scale solar market –
affecting local SMEs active in project development, installation, O&M, home battery storage, and
manufacturing. The announcements of delays and cancellations of national renewable tenders
might also slow down the deployment of new installations, with a drop of around 8 GW in 2020
compared to earlier forecasts, according to the most pessimistic scenarios.
Finally, despite major decreases in cost of solar technology – which has resulted in it already being
the lowest-cost power generation source today in many European regions – the competitiveness
of solar in Europe might be put at risk by lower fossil fuel prices, lower EU carbon prices, and
higher financing costs, which can represent more than 50% of the solar electricity cost.
SolarPower Europe is confident that
with the right measures in place, the recovery of the solar
industry, and installation rates for both small-scale and larger segments, could be reached
by 2021, supporting the timely achievement of the EU 2030 climate and energy targets,
contributing to the European economic recovery.
1 SolarPower Europe (2020).
100% Renewable Europe. How to make Europe’s energy system
climate-neutral before 2050 SolarPower Europe Rue d’Arlon 69-71 1040 Brussels Belgium +32 2 709 55 20
xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
www.solarpowereurope.org
The immediate priority is to support the European solar sector through the crisis. To this end, we
urge European Member States to consider the following recommendations:
1. Ensuring the continuity of solar projects, from engineering to construction and final
delivery, by adapting construction project deadlines, and developing compensation schemes for
project developers and equipment suppliers affected by the crisis.
2. Supporting access to finance for ongoing and new solar projects in the crisis period, by
creating direct repayable loans or loan guarantees to secure financing deals, or providing new
financing sources, possibly through the EIB.
3. Enabling a smooth and safe return to normal for solar workers. A fast return to normal for
workers active in the project construction and installation sectors should be enabled with clear
guidance on the sanitary practices that should be put in place. A smooth reestablishment of the
Single Market is critical to ensure the internal circulation of solar PV equipment and workers.
A sound European green recovery plan must channel investments towards future-proof and high-
growth potential activities, such as:
4. Launch a pan-European solar rooftop program to boost the demand for small-scale PV
and unlock its job creation potential.2 This rooftop program should be integrated with the
upcoming Renovation Wave and include:
• Mandatory installation rates on existing EU buildings, supported by adapted incentives
such as tax exemptions for small-scale PV owners;
• Grants / loans / fiscal incentives for SMEs, commercial and industrial sectors, cities and
public authorities to invest into solar energy sourcing (solar rooftops or PPAs), as part of
upcoming recovery funds and through the EIB.
5. Boost the deployment of large-scale solar projects, which will be paramount to delivering
the volume of energy needed in a climate-neutral economy:
• Additional funding (5-10bn) for Connection Europe Facility to boost investments in
electricity infrastructure, interconnections, digitalisation, and smart grids;
• Smoother administrative procedures through the delivery of robust National Energy and
Climate Plans (NECPs) and the establishment of a Clean Energy Package Implementation
Body;
• An initiative to solve current permitting bottlenecks for large projects would also be
extremely beneficial to the sector.
6. Ensure an agile EU State Aid framework, to
enable a smooth and quick adoption of green
recovery measures.
7. Put forward a solar industrial strategy for cutting-edge solar and equipment
manufacturing facilities, pursuant to the publication of the New Industrial Strategy.
• Provide financing support (grants, loans) in order to scale up cutting-edge solar and
equipment manufacturing facilities in Europe;
• Support the implementation of a “lighthouse European project” for the manufacturing of
European solar technologies.
8. Develop an EU-wide training and reskilling programme to ensure a favourable ecosystem
for PV projects. The EU should set up a platform to facilitate matchmaking between social partners,
training institutes, and the industry’s needs for skills, dedicating funding to develop training or
reskilling programmes.
2 According to
a study by SolarPower Europe and E&Y, rooftop solar installations create three times
more jobs per generation unit than larger ones.
SolarPower Europe Rue d’Arlon 69-71 1040 Brussels Belgium +32 2 709 55 20
xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
www.solarpowereurope.org