Solar photovoltaics (PVs) are a key technology for Europe’s clean energy transition, offering deployable renewable energy at low costs, as well as independence from foreign fossil fuels. However, the sector still faces critical challenges when it comes to sustainability, resilience and strategic autonomy.

In line with the 2022 EU Solar Energy Strategy, which aims to install almost 600 GW of solar PV capacity by 2030, installed solar capacity has grown exponentially in recent years. Inevitably, this growth will be mirrored in solar sector waste, with megatonnes of end-of-life solar panel waste already expected by 2030. The issue is that Europe is almost entirely dependent on third countries for solar PVs – from raw materials to modules. This puts control over key characteristics affecting end-of-life management such as hazardous material content, recyclability and repairability out of the hands of European industry.

In this challenging landscape, circularity presents an opportunity for sustainably managing growing volumes of solar PV waste. By facilitating recovery from critical raw material-containing solar PV waste and driving European industrial capacity, it also presents a unique opportunity for securing European resilience and greater strategic autonomy in a sector which is crucial to the clean transition. While the imperative is clear, questions remain as to how to develop a competitive solar PV industrial ecosystem that supports circularity in the EU while also aligning with renewable energy deployment objectives.

This event draws on lessons learned from the implementation of the EU-funded SOPHIA project to discuss the challenges and the necessary conditions for scaling up circularity in the EU solar sector. The event will map the regulatory landscape; address needs for digital product passports (DPPs) and improved traceability; and explore EU waste, product and industrial policy levers. The event will bring together stakeholders from across policy, industry and multiple EU projects to exchange views on how policies can close the loop on the solar PV industry to support the EU’s decarbonisation, resilience and strategic autonomy ambitions.

This event is organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and Recycling Europe.

Followed by a networking cocktail.