More solar energy in France but with which panels?

The Renewable Energies Acceleration Act passed this week in Parliament sets the course for more than 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy by 2050, five times more than today: "it's very good citizen point of view", "a good signal", "in any case favorable", applaud the industrialists interviewed by AFP.

"But the law does not offer any differentiation for local manufacturers", fears Paul Toulouse, general manager of Systovi, module manufacturer in Carquefou near Nantes. It resists thanks to innovation, certifications and the support of a militant shareholder, the Cetih group.

It has just inaugurated a new production line. But with 90 employees, 20 million euros in annual turnover, it remains a dwarf compared to Chinese sites that produce in a day what it manufactures in a year.

“It is therefore mainly Asian manufacturers, in this case Chinese, who will have additional sales opportunities in France,” he says.

Fully open market

Like his colleagues, he hopes to see rules and aid arrive quickly to free ourselves from Chinese domination and not be left behind in the face of the United States and the Inflation Reduction Act, Joe Biden's climate plan with measures favoring American industry.

China already produces 95% of the photovoltaic panels distributed in Europe.

Asia, in general, also carries out most of the first stage in the manufacture of solar panels, namely the production in very hot furnaces of silicon crystal which, once purified and cut into thin slices, gives rise to cells capable of converting photons from light into electrons.

The last manufacturing step, the assembly of the module in which the cells are protected by layers of liquid adhesives, a front glass and an aluminum frame, is still carried out on European soil.

With soaring electricity prices, the European market has never been so buoyant.

"We are on a dynamic that has recovered after the dark years 2015-2017", observes Ian Bard, technical and commercial director at Solarwatt France, a subsidiary of a German manufacturer which doubled its turnover in 2022. Solarwatt produced in Dresden in Germany for the top of the range, and in Asia.

He warns: "If the legislators remain on the position of having a completely open market, unlike what the United States is doing, we will remain on the pattern of today, with European manufacturers who will be doubled on large volumes by more attractive manufacturers in terms of price".

Last of the Mohicans

It's down to the penny. And for the Lyonnais Pierre-Emmanuel Martin, who carries with associates the Carbon project of a giga-factory of panels to 1,3 billion euros, there is also danger.

In addition to "China which dominates outrageously" and the United States "which emerge", he cites competition from India, and to a lesser extent from Indonesia and Turkey.

"Installing panels is not manufacturing them" and "the law does not deal with the industrial question, it is the next fight", he says in reference to the green industry bill prepared by the government.

The text "Green Industry" is supposed to make the heyday of "made in France" with a whole arsenal of fiscal, regulatory and purchasing criteria mechanisms.

Barely disguised protectionism? The Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher denies this but considers it "fair" to do without Chinese factories which have benefited from state aid.

In Carquefou, Paul Toulouse who describes himself as "one of the last of the Mohicans" has in his boxes an investment plan of 17 million euros. This would multiply Systovi's production capacity by eight: "but the visibility is not sufficient for it to be a prudent investment", he judges for the moment.