L R AS Published on Sunday 30 September 2018 - n° 249 - Categories:Europe
European association to represent manufacturers and research
At the EU PVSEC, a new ESMC association is launched. It brings together panel manufacturers and research institutes, as R&D efforts
are useless if there are no industrialists to implement them. Everyone affirmed the need for one-gigawatt production lines in Europe. The initiators of this association wish to be heard in political circles. It replaces Prosun which was supported by Solarworld.
PV Magazine of 25 September
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The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), whose creation was announced to EU PVSEC, intends to represent all parts of the sector.
PV Tech reports that 30 companies and institutions were already present prior to this week's announcement, comprising the main PV manufacturers, equipment suppliers and various institutions, with more expected to follow in the coming weeks.
The director of Fraunhofer ISE, one of the founders of the ESMC, said there are many small companies in the European industry and many of them have asked an organisation to support them. He added, "We want to focus on manufacturing because we believe that this is a strategic point for Europe where manufacturing will be available in the future as the market develops.
A representative of Total felt it was important for the solar production and R&D community to make its voice heard in Europe.
PV Tech of 25 September
Editor's note It took the disappearance of Solarworld for a European awareness to emerge. The emphasis placed on collaboration between industry and research centres makes sense. However, European industry has virtually disappeared. It is necessary to recreate one or more companies with one or more gigawatts of production capacity. Distribution networks must be recreated to disseminate these productions. We need to recreate a reputation. Above all, the Chinese or Asian competition must not be too strong so as to allow time to gradually establish the position of the manufacturers. The task is immense and it is not with open borders after the abolition of the minimum import price that this will be achieved...
The initiative is excellent. The initiative is excellent. "It remains to" translate intentions into reality. For the moment, the emergence of large companies in Europe is difficult to envisage... But who doesn't try anything?
On thefirst day of the Solar Power International forum, SEIA (the American Solar Energy Industry Association) and the Solar Foundation launched a new programme to reduce the costs of residential installations. They will try to simplify the authorisations and inspections of solar and storage projects. A new certification system would be introduced for installers and key components. The aim is to reduce the cost of installing residential solar energy by one dollar per watt.
PV Tech of 25 September
