NorSun

The production of PV ingots and wafers remains the most highly concentrated of all the production stages in the silicon solar supply chain. Yet efforts to re-establish production in Europe and the United States are not for the faint-hearted.

Norsun has temporarily suspended production at its plant in Årdal, Norway, as module oversupply in Europe is affecting pricing across the solar value chain, resulting in employee layoffs through the end of this year.

Norsun, which operates a hydroelectric-powered factory in Norway, has agreed to sell wafers to Meyer Burger, which plans to expand its annual solar cell production capacity to 3 GW by 2024.

Poland was the EU’s biggest solar jobs market last year, thanks to a national rooftop incentive program, but Germany’s push to repatriate solar manufacturing will help the bloc’s PV powerhouse back to the number one slot in three years’ time, according to SolarPower Europe.

The latest update to the Photovoltaics Report produced by research organization the Fraunhofer ISE has offered up the usual slew of interesting stats on the state of solar across the continent.

It is not just the big beasts of Chinese solar that are investing in aggressive expansion as high-efficiency wafer maker NorSun and tracker supplier GameChange Solar make big announcements. The New York company, however, may fall foul of President Trump’s America First trade mantra by opening production lines in the Far East.