The government wants to reduce its support for photovoltaics on buildings, causing incomprehension in the sector

"The support provided to photovoltaics since the early 2000s has enabled the sector to develop its skills," declared Marc Ferracci, the Minister responsible for Industry and Energy, quoted in a press release.

It "can now be refocused on the main objectives of the different segments, including self-consumption by individuals. At the same time, we are working to ensure that this support is a source of local industrial benefits, with the introduction of criteria to promote French and European industrial supply," he added.

In the 0-9 kWc power segment, support will be "refocused on self-consumption", the ministry specifies.

The 100-500 kWc segment, which has experienced "strong dynamism in recent years", will see the support tariff adjusted "to preserve the economic balance of projects, while controlling public spending".

This support will be reserved, from June 2026, for projects subject to "a resilient European supply, with a price adapted to this horizon", indicates the ministry.

Finally, a decree intended to support small ground-based photovoltaic projects will be published soon and will include "a bonus for low-carbon panels in order to promote low-emission production". It aims to distribute "photovoltaics in a more balanced way between ground-based projects and building-based projects".

The Renewable Energy Union and Enerplan are not satisfied

The Artificial Intelligence Summit has just ended in Paris. Taking the opposite view to his American counterpart, the President of the Republic chanted the slogan "plug, baby, plug" praising France's very low-carbon electricity mix to accommodate servers and data centers whose electricity consumption could reach 170 TWh by 2027.

But the very next day, the Government's first concrete act on energy policy put an abrupt halt to the development of a major segment of solar photovoltaic energy, a sector that is nevertheless essential to meet our country's growing electricity needs. Spot the mistake!

The office of the Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci, presented last night to representatives of the sector a radical overhaul of the framework for the development of solar photovoltaic energy.

While the announcements in favor of industrialization are favorably received by the profession, with the introduction on July 1, 2026 of new criteria supporting Gigafactory projects in France, the other announced developments amount, in fact, to putting an abrupt halt to all future solar projects on medium-sized roofs and parking canopies in the short term, thus putting the viability of hundreds of companies and thousands of jobs at risk.

The Government is in fact considering reducing, retroactively to 1 February, the levels of support for solar projects with a capacity of less than 500 kWc (segment known as "S21"), in such a way that no project will be economically viable in 2025. This actually amounts to establishing a moratorium, pending the establishment of a new support mechanism within an undefined timeframe.

This abrupt change in public policy will have very serious consequences, which the sector already suffered in 2010 when a moratorium was introduced, leading to the destruction of nearly 20.000 jobs. It will completely destabilize a market segment that enabled the development of thousands of installations last year and which provides activity to hundreds of SMEs and artisans in the regions. It will prevent a large part of the agricultural world from benefiting from the development of solar energy, which nevertheless provides them with essential additional income.

The SER and ENERPLAN are therefore calling on the Government to reconsider its position by maintaining the current tariff framework for the S21 segment, until the new mechanism, the implementation schedule of which appears uncertain, is effectively put in place. This will secure the investments already made by the solar industry in France and avoid a sudden halt.

For Daniel BOUR, President of ENERPLAN: "The Government clearly considers solar as an adjustment variable for electricity consumption, which is a short-term policy compared to electrification needs. The dynamism of the S21 segment has been abruptly halted. This abrupt halt is not acceptable."

For Jules NYSSEN, President of the Renewable Energy Union: "We have been saying this all along, and the AI ​​summit confirms it. Having an abundant supply of decarbonized electricity is an industrial asset and a sovereignty asset. But we must be consistent: where will we find the additional 170TWh in the next two years if we put our foot on the brakes on solar energy?"

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.