Seite 3: Sustainable upswing or flash in the pan?

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So something is happening with cells and modules. But what about wafer production? This is where the Freiburg-based start-up NexWafe, a spin-off of Fraunhofer ISE, comes in. It wants to process silicon directly into wafers instead of first melting it, letting it solidify and sawing it. To do this, it is vaporised and then deposited as a wafer-thin layer on a reusable seed wafer. This not only eliminates the need for wire sawing, but also reduces material consumption. According to NexWafe, the process generates 30 per cent less costs and 70 per cent less CO2 emissions than conventional wafer production.

If the announcements prove to be true in practice, the process has the potential to "replace classic wafer production over time", according to the trade magazine Photon. So far, however, there is only one pilot line in Freiburg. Series production has been postponed again and again. Now it is to begin in 2024. The planned location is - surprise! - the Solar Valley.

Solar industry: What the future holds

"It is important to have a secure market perspective," says Fraunhofer researcher Rentsch. In view of the ambitious expansion targets, the situation today is therefore quite different from ten years ago. "Back then, growth was only possible with the right incentives. Today, the production costs are so low that it pays for itself. That's why there's good hope that the industry won't suddenly collapse again." In any case, European production is competitive: "In the past, it was always said that labour costs were lower in Asia. But that argument no longer holds water today because production is highly automated. And then there are the rising transport costs.

And what about the skilled workers? Rentsch is not too worried about the production of cells and modules: "The specialists for factory automation are not so specialised that they could not come from other industries" - for example if suppliers for combustion engines have to change their portfolios because of increasing electrification.

When it comes to installing the finished modules, however, the situation is somewhat different, says Rentsch: "You do wonder how that's supposed to happen. On the other hand, there were already enough craftsmen ten years ago to install seven gigawatts per year. "Every roofer back then was also a solar installer. That should come back."

So there is much to suggest that the European solar industry is regaining its former strength - especially the huge demand. But this is not a foregone conclusion in view of the entangled international supply and competitive relationships.

There are enough political instruments to nurture the tender seedlings: with the Important Projects of Common European Interest and the European Chips Act, the EU is channelling billions into hydrogen and battery cell research and into building up its own chip industry. Representatives of the solar industry would like to see something like this for their sector. According to Gunter Erfurt, the money would be well spent: "For a production capacity of 30 gigawatts per year, you would have to invest about 10 to 12 billion euros Europe-wide, right across the value chain. That is about half the annual cost of importing fossil energy from Russia."

(jle)