Recording of Tuesday, May 06, 2025 | The smarter E Europe Conferences 2025 | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 14:58 .

PV Market Faces Challenges with Overproduction, Inventory Surplus, and Price Pressures Amidst Technological Shifts

Molly Morgan, a senior research analyst at CRU, discussed the photovoltaic (PV) market's supply-demand imbalance and its consequences. Overproduction in 2022 led to unsustainable inventory levels and plummeting prices across the PV supply chain from polysilicon to modules. Despite strong global demand during this period, overproduction reached an average of 140%, far exceeding sustainable limits. This resulted in significant inventory accumulation—around 300 gigawatts by 2024—and intense price competition that forced manufacturers into negative margins or cutting corners on quality. Morgan highlighted concerns about module reliability due to these pressures, with some breaking alarmingly easily while others remained robust. As manufacturers adopt more conservative production strategies post-2025, relief from rock-bottom pricing is expected by early 2026. The presentation also examined technological efficiencies within the industry: TopCon leads in capacity but not performance; BackContact technology shows superior efficiency gains yet remains limited by current manufacturing capacities; tandem technologies like perovskite-silicon are anticipated for future dominance as they promise higher efficiencies through innovative architectures set to emerge throughout the '30s.

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Speaker

Molly Morgan
Senior Research Analyst
Exawatt
United Kingdom

Talk of session: Major European Markets: What's Needed to Create the Next Solar Momentum in Europe

Across the EU, solar power surpassed coal in electricity generation for the first time last year. At the same time, however, solar growth has slowed significantly since the energy crisis, with five of the top ten markets installing less than the year before, and the overall expansion rate dropping to single digits. With increasing policy uncertainty in many countries, the success of solar in the EU depends on a strong vision of the new leadership in Brussels to create a stable, investment-friendly environment that ensures long-term momentum. This session will provide: Market projections for EU solar growth and key trends Supply, demand and price analysis Insights from major national solar associations on market opportunities and barriers Discussion on how to reignite growth and meet EU targets.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome & Introduction

Speaker

Josefin Berg
Associate Director
S&P Global

To Talk

European 5-Year Solar Market Outlook

Speaker

Vegard Vollset
Head of Renewables & Power - EMEA
Rystad Energy
Norway

To Talk

How to Navigate the New Era of Solar Distributed DG

Speaker

Miguel Lopes
Senior Asset Leader
McKinsey & Company
United States of America

Recording of presentation not authorized for publication.

Panel Discussion

Speaker

To Talk