A new EU-funded project has launched, aimed at strengthening Europe’s capabilities in silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing.
The so-called EuroCZFactory project is targeting what its backers said was a key gap in Europe’s solar manufacturing capacity.
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EuroCZFactory’s ambition is to help enable significant ingot and wafer production in Europe. A spokesperson for the project said its eventual aim was to support at least three new crystal growth plants in Europe by 2031 and enable more than 5GWp/year of new European silicon ingot manufacturing capacity by the mid-2030s.
Trade body Solar Power Europe, one of the partners in the Horizon Europe-funded project, noted that although Europe continues to expand solar deployment, it currently has limited production capacity in this part of the value chain. 
“By working on this early stage of solar manufacturing, EuroCZFactory aims to build European expertise and know-how, help reduce the manufacturing gap and contribute to future industrial initiatives in Europe,” SPE said in a statement.
Over the next 42 months, SPE said the consortium would develop the technologies and processes needed to support European ingot and wafer production using the Czochralski method. Objectives will include improving the growth and processing of silicon crystals into wafers, integrating digital tools into manufacturing processes, and demonstrating the technology through pilot operations using full-scale equipment.
The project kicked off late last month with a launch event in Norway hosted by Norwegian research organisation SINTEF, the project coordinator, and attended by 16 partners drawn from Europe’s solar PV manufacturing, research and innovation sectors. Other partners include Germany’s Fraunhofer research insitutes, French research body CEA, equipment manufacturer RENA Technologies and Kalyon PV from Türkiye.
At the kick-off meeting, the partners discussed the project’s main technical work areas, governance structure and coordination framework, SPE said. They also highlighted the importance of connecting EuroCZFactory with broader European initiatives to strengthen the PV manufacturing ecosystem.
“This is a strategic value chain segment. Ingots and wafers are essential building blocks for solar cells and form a critical link in the PV manufacturing chain. A stronger European ingot and wafer industry can support the growth of European cell and module manufacturing, helping to strengthen the wider solar PV value chain,” said an SPE spokesperson.
Rebuilding Europe’s PV manufacturing base has been a long-held goal in industry and policy circles, but success in establishing anything on a meaningful scale has so far been limited.
A ‘Made in Europe’ panel discussion at Intersolar in Munich last month heard that although a “disruption” in European PV manufacturing was unlikely, opportunities around innovation, where Europe has a strong pedigree, were more realistic. Areas such as equipment manufacturing, complex cell processing and advanced solar cell technologies were among those mentioned as offering Europe the greatest scope to secure its competitive edge in PV manufacturing.
This article has been updated from its original version with further details of the project’s aims and partners, and an amendment to the coordinating body, which is SINTEF, not SPE as originally reported.

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