Learning photovoltaics: the European Solar Academy is born

Brussels – At the photovoltaic school, or rather, at the Academy: the European Solar Academy opens its doors. Over the next three years, it will train 100,000 specialised photovoltaic workers throughout the European Union. Launched by the European Commission, it is the first in a series of EU academies to be established under the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) so that the Union gains the skills needed along the value chains of zero-emission technologies. “The role of the NZIA academies is to develop learning content and programs together with industry to ensure sufficient skills and workforce in the value chain,” the EU executive pointed out.

It all starts with the targets the Twenty-Seven have set for themselves: under the revised Renewable Energy Directive, the EU has set a target of 43.5 per cent (hopefully to be rounded up to 45 per cent) for the share of renewable energy by 2030. As part of the RePowerEu plan, in May 2022, the Commission adopted a solar energy strategy to achieve more than 320 GW of solar PV capacity by 2025 and nearly 600 GW by 2030. However, to translate these numbers and percentages into reality, according to Brussels, it is necessary to promote the production of zero-emission technologies in Europe to support the clean energy transition. To that end, the Union has introduced the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), with the ultimate goal of creating better conditions for zero-emission projects in Europe and attracting investment so that the Union’s overall strategic zero-emission technology production capacity approaches or reaches at least 40 per cent of the Union’s needs by 2030.

In this context, Brussels estimates that by 2030, some 66,000 skilled workers will be needed in the solar PV manufacturing sector for the EU to meet its renewable energy targets while ensuring industrial competitiveness. This is where the Solar Academy comes in, aiming to train 100,000 workers in the solar PV value chain over the next three years to fill the current labour and skills shortage in the sector.

Building on the model of the European Battery Academy, launched in 2022 for the battery value chain, “the Solar Academy will design the learning content, together with the industry and stakeholders in the solar PV value chain,” and “will also develop learning credentials, which will certify the skills acquired by participants in the training courses, thus fostering workforce mobility in the single market,” the Commission specified. The programs will be implemented through local partners, such as vocational and educational training providers, companies, universities, or other education and training providers with whom the Academy will sign a contract to implement its programs. The Commission supports the launch of the European Solar Academy with 9 million euros from the Single Market Program, and the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) will implement the project through its knowledge and innovation community, EIT Innoenergy.

“The launch of the Solar Academy shows that the Commission is committed to reducing emissions and creating quality jobs in the EU,” commented European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton. “Launching the Academy even before the zero-emission industry law comes into force will help fill the urgent skills shortage in Europe’s PV sector—about 66,000 workers in manufacturing alone—and train a new generation of workers for our solar industry, in line with our goal of producing at least 40 per cent of our zero-emission technology needs by 2030,” Breton stressed.