European PV production equipment sales soar
European PV production equipment sales soar
The German engineering association, VDMA, has released its latest annual International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITPV) report.
In the second quarter, German PV production equipment suppliers saw a trend reversal, with incoming orders and sales, which had been limited since the outbreak of the pandemic, surged 62% compared to the previous quarter. Sales of European solar manufacturers also quadrupled during the same period.
For the first time since the VDMA began collecting statistics in 2008, incoming orders from European PV manufacturers were higher than their Asian counterparts.
"European orders received in the first two quarters of 2022 are already more than four times the value of all European orders in 2021," the association said.
The industry expects sales to still increase in the third quarter, mainly due to the removal of bottlenecks in the supply chain. The biggest growth driver for equipment makers remains the component production business.
Machines in this segment accounted for almost a third of total sales in the second quarter. In terms of sales, Asian solar manufacturers remain the most important source of income for German suppliers, at least for now, the VDMA said.
"Although orders in Asia in the second quarter of 2022 were lower than in Europe, sales in Asia were still number one, accounting for 52% of the total market," VDMA said.
In addition, U.S. sales were up from the previous quarter, but orders were down slightly. According to the association, the current export rate of PV production kits in Europe is 66%.
"The Asian market was previously the largest market for German PV equipment suppliers, but since the first quarter of 2022, orders from Europe have increased and are expected to continue to increase," said Jutta Trube, Head of the PV Production Equipment Division at VDMA. "Overall On the other hand, countries are increasingly interested in new local PV production, and we expect demand to remain strong.”
The supply chain bottleneck brought about by the epidemic has not yet been fully overcome.
Peter Fath, Managing Director of RCT Solutions GmbH and Director of the PV Production Equipment Division at VDMA, said: “Orders for PV production equipment from the European Union increased in the second quarter. Despite the ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and shortage of skilled workers caused by the pandemic, the Sales momentum for solar machinery manufacturers is encouraging."
All in all, sales are expected to increase further.
"The EU's PV production equipment manufacturers are able to deal with these bottlenecks and successfully resist the unpredictable," Fath said.
In addition, Europe now has a tangible political will to rebuild the solar industry, with numerous initiatives calling for the reinvigoration of Europe's entire PV value chain.
"Currently, countries like the US and India are launching very attractive initiatives to boost PV production, and Europe needs similar initiatives," Fath said.
