Europe’s solar industry should be basking in sunshine. Solar is central to the EU’s hopes to generate 45 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Since August, however, eight European solar supply chain companies have either filed for bankruptcy, paused production, warned of factory closures or restructured debts, according to SolarPower Europe. Domestic companies cannot compete with a glut of cheaply-priced imports from China, the global leader.
Switzerland’s Meyer Burger Technology typifies the crisis: its shares are down 87 per cent in the past year. It announced last week it would close a module production site in Germany, one of Europe’s largest, and hoped to raise up to SFr250mn via a rights issue to fund expansion in the US.