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.
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