European Commission Introduces Collaborative Initiative for Solar Photovoltaics

The European Commission has published ‘Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027,’ which announces the establishment of an official Co-programmed European Partnership for Solar Photovoltaics in partnership with the European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP PV). Negotiations between the Commission and the solar sector are ongoing to determine the optimal structure for this partnership. It is slated to commence in early 2025. SolarPower Europe, representing the European solar PV sector’s research interests to the European Commission, plays a critical role as part of the Secretariat of ETIP PV.

This strategic plan will shape research and innovation (R&I) funding from 2025 to 2027. European Partnerships serve as collaborative platforms to address climate change challenges through joint research and innovation endeavors.

Thomas Garabetian, member of the ETIP PV Secretariat, and R&I Manager at SolarPower Europe, said:

“Research and innovation is at the heart of solar; it’s been integral to mainstreaming the technology, supporting policy alignment, and bringing it from ‘lab-to-fab, from the research to the production phase.

However, we will still need to address several research and innovation challenges over the coming years, to encourage scientific advancements, accelerate technological breakthroughs, and enhance the competitiveness of the European solar industry on a global scale.

For this reason, the inclusion of a co-programmed partnership for solar PV under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Strategic Plan is a significant step for the industry, which will improve the coordination of R&I efforts along the rapidly evolving solar value chain.

This partnership will be a crucial pillar to develop a resilient European solar supply chain, by helping European companies and research institutes to reduce their turnaround time between the laboratory and production phases, with better targeted R&I programmes that will help deliver innovation at scale.

It will also be important for advancing new applications for solar such as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and floating solar, and developing solutions to prioritise circularity within the solar industry.

As part of the ETIP PV Secretariat, we ar looking forward to playing our part in transforming the European solar R&I framework.”