European countries are rapidly installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems as part of their transition to renewable energy.
In 2024 the EU installed about 65.5 GW of solar PV capacity — a record pace for the region, though growth slowed compared with the extraordinary surge seen in 2023. SolarPower Europe+1
However, despite being a leader in deployment, manufacturing capacity within Europe remains limited relative to global production: within the European Economic Area there were around 157 companies engaged in PV production, but measured capacity for modules and cells is still small compared with the scale of global supply. For example, module production in Europe was in the single-digit gigawatt range (≈9.4 GW modules; 1.4 GW cells at the time of reporting), with efforts under way to expand toward an EU manufacturing goal of 30 GW annual capacity by 2025 — and to raise local content to a significant share of installed panels. Intersolar Europe+1
This relative scarcity of European panel output reflects decades of industrial shift to Asia, especially China, which now accounts for the vast majority of PV manufacturing globally — often cited at 80 %+ of major stages like wafers, cells, and modules. IEA
📊 Turnover and Market Size of Solar Production in Europe
Unlike deployment figures, detailed comprehensive turnover numbers specifically for European solar panel manufacturing are patchier in publicly available data, partly because many plants are owned by private companies and the industry is fragmented. But market research gives a strong sense of overall economic scale:
🔹 European Solar Panel Market Revenue
Market analysts estimate the European solar panel market — including sales and installations of panels rather than narrow component manufacturing — was valued around USD 78.8 billion in 2024, and is projected to grow to ≈USD 86.3 billion in 2025. By the early 2030s, the market may exceed USD 170 billion, expanding at roughly a 9–10 % annual growth rate. Market Data Forecast
This revenue reflects the value of solar panels sold across Europe — including imports and locally produced units — not just manufacturing turnover. But it offers a useful proxy of how economic activity tied to solar panels is expanding.
🔹 Manufacturing Turnover in Specific Countries
For example, in Germany — one of Europe’s solar technology hubs — domestic manufacturing turnover in solar panel production was reported around €302.7 million in 2025. This figure, while modest compared with total market revenue, reflects the small scale of standalone module production amid stiff competition from Asian imports. IBISWorld
Europe also generates significant economic activity in related equipment — such as inverters (the ‘brains’ of PV systems) — where production capacity reached over 90 GW, and supplier networks span multiple European countries. QualEnergia.it
👩🔧 Jobs and the European Solar Workforce
The solar sector has become a major employment engine in Europe, even if most jobs are tied to deployment rather than manufacturing.
📍 Employment Trends
At the end of 2024, the EU solar industry employed around 865,000 people, a 5 % increase from the year before. This growth was faster than the overall European labour market, driven by ongoing PV installation activity and operations work. SolarPower Europe
However, the manufacturing element of that workforce is relatively small. The majority of solar jobs (≈86 %) are in deployment — such as project planning, construction, and installation — while manufacturing directly accounted for about 5 % of total solar jobs (≈41,000). Mercomindia.com
By contrast, a small number of jobs are in operations & maintenance, and an emerging segment in decommissioning/recycling also creates work as solar equipment ages and is replaced. Mercomindia.com
📉 Recent Shifts
After years of rapid solar job expansion — including a 39 % jump in jobs in 2022 alone — growth has slowed, partly because lower panel prices (often due to Chinese imports) have pressured European manufacturers and limited local production hiring. SolarPower Europe+1
Forecasts once predicted 1 million solar jobs in the EU by 2025, but given current trends this target is now expected around the late 2020s, reflecting slower deployment and manufacturing headwinds. SolarPower Europe
🌍 Intercontinental Job Market Impacts
The European solar industry has both internal and global implications for employment.
🔹 Europe’s Position in the Global Job Market
Europe’s solar job growth contributes significantly to green energy job creation, but the continent’s relatively small role in manufacturing means that many jobs in the global solar supply chain are outside Europe.
China, for example, has built an enormous PV manufacturing ecosystem. According to international energy analyses, China’s investment in solar manufacturing has created hundreds of thousands of jobs across polysilicon, cell, and module production — far outstripping Europe’s manufacturing workforce. IEA
This means that while Europe is a major consumer and installer of solar technology, much of the value-chain labour — especially in upstream manufacturing — is located in Asia. As a result, Europe’s imports reflect a transfer of manufacturing jobs overseas, even as European deployment work expands domestically.
🔹 Export and Trade Dynamics
Europe also plays a role in intercontinental solar supply routes. Companies based in Europe often distribute panels globally, and many European renewable energy firms engage in international markets through cross-continent partnerships or installations. For example, a Polish solar equipment distributor became one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies partly by serving markets in the Middle East and Africa — showing how European solar businesses can help shape global supply chains beyond pure manufacturing. Financial Times
However, U.S. tariffs and global trade policy shifts are reshaping solar supply routes, influencing where manufacturing jobs are created and how export patterns shift across continents. Reuters
🔹 Future Workforce Shifts
If Europe succeeds in expanding local manufacturing capacity — such as through new gigafactories in France or other member states — it could create thousands of direct manufacturing jobs and many more in related sectors.
For instance, a planned French solar factory backed by over €220 million in financing aims to generate around 2,000 direct manufacturing jobs once operational. Reuters
At the same time, continued emphasis on deployment and maintenance jobs means the labour market will increasingly include training and reskilling opportunities in engineering, construction, and solar system operations — work that can be exported internationally as European firms win contracts abroad.
📌 Key Takeaways
1. Europe’s solar panel deployment is booming, but local manufacturing turnover remains modest compared with total market revenue and global production domination by Asia.
The European market was valued at tens of billions of euros annually and is projected to grow, but manufacturing turnover within Europe is still comparatively small. Market Data Forecast
2. Solar energy creates significant jobs in Europe — nearly a million — with the bulk in installation and operations, and a smaller share in manufacturing.
European solar employment has set records, but manufacturing job creation lags due to competitive pressure from imports. SolarPower Europe+1
3. Globally, Europe’s role is growing in PV deployment and service jobs, but much of the manufacturing workforce is concentrated in Asia — impacting how and where solar industry jobs are created.
Investment trends and trade policies will continue shaping this intercontinental job distribution.
No comments:
Post a Comment