Europe’s last remaining solar industry buckles under Chinese pricing onslaught

“European solar manufacturing isn’t sustainable for the time being,” Meyer Burger writes in a statement unveiling plans to close down its PV module assembly plant in Saxony. Citing a lack of sufficient measures to create a level playing field in Europe, Germany’s last remaining solar panel manufacturer intends to focus on growth in the “highly attractive” US market.

Meyer Burger isn’t the only European solar company to fight for its life. Silicon ingot producer Norwegian Crystals filed for bankruptcy, as did Austria’s Energetica. Another Norwegian solar outfit, Norsun, temporarily shut down its plant. “What we’ve witnessed in recent months is just the beginning of what we fear could become a wave of shutdowns in PV manufacturing operations, turning off the light of the European PV industry’s renaissance,” the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) warns. The trade body urges swift emergency measures to turn the tide.