There has been little light relief for European manufacturers of solar panels over the past few years. A glut of cheap Chinese solar panels triggered a flurry of factory closures, bankruptcies and downsizing as the bloc’s domestic companies struggled to compete.
But now, an increased focus on ethics and local procurement in the solar industry has sparked hopes that price may no longer be the defining factor when solar developers choose suppliers.
UK ministers said in April that Britain’s state-owned energy company would be forced to make sure it doesn’t use any solar panels linked to Chinese forced labour. In 2024, about a fifth of the world’s polysilicon was produced in China’s Xinjiang region, where western governments have alleged human rights abuses of the Uyghur community. Such initiatives might force some European project developers to consider sourcing from domestic solar panel manufacturers.