Why Ireland needs to be in solar manufacturing

Ireland has a lot of positive assets when it comes to green tech.

In particular, as we are advocates for solar PV, we should clarify that Ireland has a lot of positive attributes required for a solar manufacturing industry – vis-a-vis – great R&D capacity, a quality educated workforce, and a long history in semiconductor manufacture.

Analog Devices has been a big employer here for decades to name but one. Texas Instruments is another name we should hear more of, and there’s also Applied Materials. That’s three great reservoirs of talent in Ireland’s semiconductor industry – and there have been homegrown spinoffs too.

We can think of three more reasons though …

Three reasons why Ireland should invest itself into solar manufacturing.

1 Intel. 2 Intel. 3 Intel.

It’s not as simple as Intel, Intel, Intel, but there’s a lot to be said for that line of thinking.

Intel has recently completed it’s new Fab34 building in Leixlip, with final stages of installation currently in progress. There is a recent article about this project from Engineers Ireland here.

What the completion of Fab34 means in reality is that there are currently several thousand construction workers in Ireland who are experienced in the construction of high-tech semiconductor manufacturing facilities, along with several hundred companies who have all the relevant management and technical expertise to make it happen.

An Intel team guides a lithography resist track into Fab 34 in Leixlip, Ireland, on Jan. 12, 2022. It is the first chipmaking tool delivered to Fab 34, which is part of a $7 billion construction project that will double Intel Ireland’s manufacturing space when it goes online in 2023. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Surely it only takes a short discussion between government and Intel senior management to purchase some architectural drawings and put some senior project managers on secondment for a new public-private-partnership in solar wafer manufacturing – and voila! Ireland has a brand new industry.

Construction could be completed in under three years from ink-dry, if the last successful project is any indicator.

Then the exciting part happens, where Ireland finds it’s place in the solar manufacturing value chain, and starts collaborating with other European partners in this massive future industry.

The solar manufacturing value-chain

Generally speaking when it come’s to manufacturing solar modules, the process begins with crystalline-silicon or polycrystalline-silicon ingots which are made into silicon wafers, which are turned into solar cells, which are in turn assembled into the solar modules that we all know and love.

Most European countries have some kind of industry contributing to parts of the value-chain, but Ireland does not feature at all. Yet we have a large reservoir of talent in semiconductors and in wafer fabrication, so why not start there?

Value of the Market

Some researchers have estimated the European solar PV market at 37 GWp installed this year, with a further 42 GWp installed in 2023, and growing to 100+ GWp (per annum) by 2030. The medium-term prediction is for a global solar PV market of 12 TWp installed by 2030. [1]

These numbers can be analysed further and translated into euro-values or employment-values for any European country with the vision to support such initiatives.

Looking back in time, we can in some small way claim ignorance at having paid OPEC unspeakable sums of money for our energy needs of the last 100 years.

Looking forward, can we really afford to spend the next 100 years paying APaC for our energy tech? That seems short-sighted, self-injurious, and lacking in leadership.

We could add, that it’s not very environmentally friendly shipping mostly-glass-and-aluminium solar modules half-way around the world, so that we can claim to be eco-conscious.

Some joined-up thinking is required. Any child could tell you that.

[1] Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett, ‘Sustainable PV manufacturing in Europe: an initiative for a 10 GW GreenFab‘