About
Renewable electricity is expected to become a cornerstone of our future sustainable, climate-neutral energy system. It could become the ‘primary fuel of the future’, serving well-known electricity needs, as well as powering heating and cooling in urban environments and industry. It also has the potential to power transport and mobility, and, in some parts of the world, desalination.
The energy transition is well underway in Europe with the solar photovoltaics (PV) sector at the heart of Europe’s energy, climate and industrial strategies. The REPowerEU plan and the Solar Energy Strategy introduced targets for the deployment of photovoltaics amounting to 600 GWac by 2030.
The solar strategy as well introduces the goal, which is also incorporated in the Net Zero Industry Act of reinforcing the European solar manufacturing industry. The aim for it is to cover around 40% of European demand for PV products (and other clean energy technologies) by 2030 with local manufacturing.
The Clean Industrial Deal and the Affordable Energy Action Plan introduced a key performance indicator on the share of electricity in final energy consumption, setting 32% by 2030 as reference, and announced the Electrification Action Plan. Clean electricity is projected to replace fossil fuels in industry, transport and buildings, and to provide most of the energy demand to the EU’s economy by 2040.
To meet these targets, the electricity sector requires massive additional generation and storage capacity, and network and demand-side investments. On this background, the IWG PV is working to support and accelerate research and development within SET Plan Member States along the PV value chain, on a European scale and for various photovoltaic technologies and applications.
Targets and objectives
The 2026 IWG PV Thematic Vision outlines how photovoltaics can support Europe’s energy transition while strengthening industrial resilience, system stability and economic competitiveness while providing energy security and sovereignty to Europe. The Vision establishes common ambitions and milestones for 2030, 2040 and 2050.
The short-term (2030) targets address:
- interaction with storage and other flexibility resources to maximise PV generation
- continued innovation delivers sustained competitiveness and cost improvements for PV
- embedding AI technologies in the PV value chain to deliver new services and maximise PV’s potential.
Meanwhile the medium-term (2040) targets address:
- a PV industry that contributes to European resilience through digitalisation, circularity and innovation
- new applications unlocking PV’s energy production potential .
Finally, the long-term perspective (2050) addresses:
- expanding PV integration across land use, mobility and industrial systems
- circularity solving raw materials challenge, competitiveness and cementing PV’s social licence to operate.
Contacts
The PV working group includes representatives of SET Plan countries (see table below), the European Commission and the European technology and innovation platform (ETIP) PV.
The group is co-chaired by Germany and the Netherlands with the support of the European technology and innovation platform (ETIP) PV.
Participating SET Plan countries (in alphabetical order):
| Country | Membership |
| Belgium | Active member |
| Belgium | Temporary observer |
| France | Active member |
| Germany | Co-chair |
| Germany | Co-chair alternate |
| Germany | Active member alternate |
| Ireland | Active member |
| Italy | Active member |
| Latvia | Temporary observer |
| Liechtenstein | Temporary observer |
| Malta | Temporary observer |
| Netherlands | Co-chair |
| Norway | Active member |
| Norway | Temporary observer |
| Slovenia | Active member |
| Slovenia | Temporary observer |
| Spain | Active member |
| Sweden | Active member |
Key members
- IWG Co-Chair: Dr. Christoph Hünnekes, Project Management Jülich, Energy System: Renewable Energies, Head of Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, ch [dot] huennekes
ptj [dot] de (ch[dot]huennekes[at]ptj[dot]de) - IWG Co-chair: Dr. Otto Bernsen, Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO, otto [dot] bernsenrvo [dot] nl (otto[dot]bernsen[at]rvo[dot]nl)