Solar installations that support supply chain resilience can be competitive with imports from China with the right policy support, a new report from SolarPower Europe and Fraunhofer ISE reveals. Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO at SolarPower Europe (she/her) said: "This new report underlines that, with the right policies, Europe can competitively deliver 30 GW of solar manufacturing by 2030, creating thousands of local jobs, and building a resilient, innovative solar supply chain that keeps economic value here at home.
To meet 2030 goal, the EU and Member States must act swiftly.
Without interventions, Europe risks losing remaining industrial and technological capabilities in solar.
The Reshoring Solar Module Manufacturing to Europe" report offers a cost gap analysis and policy impact simulation, which finds that producing a solar module in Europe with EU-made solar cells costs around 10.3 ct/Wp more than producing the same module in China.
The gap stems from higher costs in equipment (+40%), building and facility (+110%), labour (+280%), and material costs (+50%).
As a result, such utility solar installations cost about 60.8 ct/Wp compared to 50.0 ct/Wp for a Chinese system, translating into a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) that is 14.5% higher for European-made modules.
This gives a hopeful indication that already, EU-made products fall within the 15% limit of additional costs under Net-Zero Industry Act auction rules.
However, the report notes a significant cost difference (2.2 to 5.8 ct/Wp) between NZIA compliant EU-made and NZIA compliant non-EU-made modules.
The Net-Zero Industry Act"s resilience criteria can therefore diversify module supply chains and boost imports from elsewhere in the world, but without more policy measures, reshoring EU production may not be achieved.
Crucially, the report reveals that the cost gap between European made and Chinese imported solar can be further reduced to below 10% with the right mix of policies, such as combining CAPEX and OPEX schemes, both for solar manufacturers and project developers, with output-based support (e.g. successful models have existed in the US (IRA) and India (PLI schemes), and assuming solar factories reaching 3-5 GW capacity.
The report notes that industry support needs range from 1.4 - 5.2 billion annually to reach the 30 GW target for European solar manufacturing for 2030, with up to 39% of costs being recovered through macroeconomic benefits (up to 2,700 jobs and 66.4 million in annual tax and social revenues per GWp/a). 
The report recommends:
- Establishing an EU-level output-based support scheme for solar manufacturing, combining grants, loans, and de-risking instruments to cover both CAPEX and OPEX.
- Implementing NZIA policy schemes across Member States, including "Made-in-EU" bonus points in rooftop support and public procurement programmes.
- The Net-Zero Industry Act: The European Commission adopted the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) Secondary Legislation on 23 May 2025, establishing the rules for Member States on how to incorporate non-price criteria into renewable energy auctions.
This follows the adoption of the Net-Zero Industry Act in June 2024.
It is now up to the Member States to implement these provisions as of 2026.
The NZIA offers a historic opportunity to reshore clean tech manufacturing in Europe.
But its success depends on how Member States implement the non-price criteria in renewable energy auctions.
As per the law, Member States are to apply non-price criteria (NPCs) to at least 30% of the auctioned volume per year, or 6 GW annually.
These NPCs should account for 15% to 30% of the overall evaluation criteria, with some flexibility allowed in cases where associated costs exceed 15%.
Resilience under Art. 26 NZIA is defined as not from the dominant source of supply.
- The Net-Zero Industry Act Implementing Act: The Implementing Act of Article 26 of the NZIA further specifies the rules for EU country auctions to deploy renewable energy sources, including certain non-price criteria that must be applied to 30% of auction volumes (or 6 GW per EU country) from January 2026 onwards.
It was adopted on 23 May 2025.