Solar Energy

Western inverter manufacturers have enough production capacity to fully supply the European Union market, the European Solar Manufacturing Council, ESMC, said this week, as the bloc moves to end EU funding for inverters from high-risk countries. The industry body, which represents European photovoltaic manufacturers, cited new data from S&P Global Energy showing that inverter production capacity in Europe currently stands at around 104 GWac. Manufacturers in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, excluding China, can provide an additional 120 GWac. According to ESMC, more than 53 GWac of European production capacity is available to meet European demand. That figure almost matches total EU solar installations in 2025. “Supply is not the bottleneck. The capacity to replace high-risk vendors already exists today,” said ESMC Secretary General Christoph Podewils. ESMC noted that Western manufacturers already have an established presence across Eastern Europe and can scale up sales and support within about six months. Based on a survey of six Western manufacturers, the council said they have a combined installed base of around 14 GW across eight EU markets, led by Poland. The companies also have about 330 sales and service employees working on the ground or dedicated remotely. The group added that choosing Western inverters will not significantly increase project costs. Citing Wood Mackenzie data, ESMC said switching to Western equipment would add roughly 2% to the cost of utility-scale or commercial solar projects. For residential string inverters the increase would be 3% to 4%, rising to 8% for systems using micro-inverters, power optimisers or hybrid inverters. “The inverter is the brain of every solar installation. Who controls the brain controls the grid,” Podewils said during a panel at the European Sustainable Energy Week, EUSEW, conference in Brussels. “The debate about whether Europe can wean itself off high-risk inverters is over – the capacity is there, the manufacturers are there, and in Eastern Europe they have been there for fifteen years.” The comments come as the EU advances measures to reduce reliance on suppliers deemed high-risk for energy security and critical infrastructure.

India has moved up to become the world’s third-largest country in installed renewable energy capacity, according to a new report by Morgan Stanley, as the country pushes to cut reliance on fossil fuel imports and meet its climate targets. The report said India’s energy transition will help reduce external dependence in the long term, but its success will hinge on how quickly domestic manufacturing of critical components such as solar cells, wafers, and polysilicon can be scaled up. Data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, MNRE, shows rapid growth in domestic production. Solar module manufacturing capacity nearly doubled from 38 gigawatts in March 2024 to 74 gigawatts in March 2025. Solar cell capacity also rose sharply, from 9 gigawatts to 25 gigawatts over the same period. Despite the expansion, India continues to rely heavily on imports for upstream parts of the solar supply chain. In the financial year 2025, the country imported about 35 million solar modules worth approximately 1.6 billion US dollars. The report estimates that 60 to 80 per cent of those imports came from China. Overall, non-fossil fuel sources now account for more than half of India’s total installed power capacity. Clean energy capacity has crossed 262.7 gigawatts, representing over 50 per cent of the national total. Solar and wind power made up the bulk of new additions. Morgan Stanley noted that while downstream manufacturing has grown, localizing wafer and polysilicon production remains a key challenge. Building capacity in these segments will be crucial for India to secure its supply chain, lower costs, and meet its renewable energy goals without continued import exposure. The government has set ambitious targets to expand renewable energy as part of its broader energy security and decarbonization strategy.

I­vory Coast on Friday inaugurated a new 52.4-megawatt, MW, solar power plant in the north of the country, marking another major step in the government’s drive to expand clean energy and meet climate goals set in 2021. The Ferke Solar plant, located in Ferkessedougou, was officially opened in a ceremony attended by government officials, energy sector stakeholders, and development partners. Mines Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, who commissioned the facility, said the project reflects the administration’s commitment to diversifying the national electricity mix and accelerating the energy transition. “Today’s ceremony fits perfectly with the strategy for Ivory Coast… namely to accelerate the country’s energy transition by diversifying its electricity mix through the expansion of renewable energy capacity,” Coulibaly said at the event. According to PFO Africa, the Ivorian infrastructure investment group behind the project, the plant will supply electricity to 370,000 households and directly serve about 2 million people, primarily in the northern Ferkessedougou region and surrounding communities. The company noted that the new solar facility will help reduce pressure on the national grid in the north, an area that has historically faced power supply challenges. It is also expected to lower transmission losses and improve energy reliability for homes, businesses, and public institutions in the region. Construction of the plant was financed by PFO Energies, a subsidiary of PFO Africa. The group holds 100 per cent Ivorian shareholding. The Ferke Solar plant will operate on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer, BOOT, basis. Under the arrangement, PFO Energies will build, own, and operate the plant for a defined period before transferring ownership to the Ivorian government. Officials said the model is designed to attract private investment into the power sector while ensuring that critical energy infrastructure eventually comes under state control. The launch comes as Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, seeks to reposition itself as a leading electricity supplier in West Africa. The government aims to have 46 per cent of its electricity mix come from renewable sources by 2035, up from current levels dominated by thermal generation. Ivory Coast currently has an installed power capacity of roughly 3,000 MW. The bulk of this is generated from oil and gas-fired plants. Beyond meeting domestic demand, the country already exports electricity to Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Mali, and officials say expanding renewables will strengthen its role as a regional power hub. Energy analysts say the addition of utility-scale solar is critical to achieving the 2035 target, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, and shielding consumers from volatile global gas prices. The Ferke project adds to a growing pipeline of renewable developments in Ivory Coast, including hydro and solar initiatives aimed at cutting carbon emissions while expanding access to electricity nationwide. Government officials said more solar and hybrid projects are expected to be rolled out in the coming years as part of the national climate and energy strategy.