Production technologies for solar photovoltaics beyond the state-of-the-art (EUPI-PV Partnership)
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds companies, startups and research organisations developing photovoltaic production technologies beyond the state of the art.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, startup, research org, university.
- Amount
- €12M per projectTotal budget €36,000,000
- Deadline
- 31 Mar 2027 02:00 CESTin 158 days
- Status
- Forthcomingopens 3 Dec 2026
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Expected Outcome:
The REPowerEU plan and the EU Solar Energy Strategy introduced targets for the deployment of solar PV amounting to 600 GWac by 2030. Complying with these targets will be crucial for the European Union to reach its climate targets and free itself from import dependency on fossil fuels and the costs this imposes on Europe’s competitiveness in terms of high energy prices. The Solar Strategy also introduces a target, which has been enshrined into the Net-Zero Industry Act, to re-consolidate the European solar manufacturing sector and scale up European manufacturing capacity across the entire value chain to at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs, or 30 GW of annual capacity by 2030. Innovation is particularly important in the solar PV sector, which is characterised by a short technology cycle, where new technologies become mainstream in only a few years. Novel technologies offer therefore the opportunity to innovative start-ups and scale-ups to manufacture and put on the market competitive and efficient PV products, strengthening the resilience of the EU PV value chain thus reducing excessive dependencies and increasing security.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
• Increase the potential for commercialisation of innovative PV technologies creating a competitive technological know-how for the European PV industrial base;
• Contribute to the objectives of the EU Solar PV Industry Alliance;
• Support the execution of the solar energy joint research and innovation agenda.
Scope:
Proposals are expected to demonstrate
• Solar cells/modules with conversion efficiencies beyond those commercially available and degradation/reliability and performance at least on par with the most reliable commercially available technologies;
• A multi-MWp-ready resilient, energy efficient, defect-free production technology for cells/modules;
• Production equipment & pilot line, including digitalised and automated processing.
Whenever the expected exploitation of project results entails developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, the plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results must include a strategy for such exploitation. Proposals will present a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results which should include a strong business case and sound exploitation strategy. The exploitation plan should include preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment (feasibility study, business plan) indicating the possible funding sources to be potentially used (in particular the Innovation Fund).
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership for Innovation in Photovoltaics (EUPI-PV). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership for Innovation in Photovoltaics (EUPI-PV) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Startup, Research org, University
- Purpose
- Research and innovation
- R&D relevance
- 3 of 3
- Poland eligible
- Yes
- Country limit
- —
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Unclear
- Readiness level (TRL)
- —
- Topics
- Photovoltaic production technologies
- Solar manufacturing
- Advanced photovoltaic technologies
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026
Conditions
Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.
- Applicant restriction
- Entities established in an otherwise eligible country but directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in this action under the cited critical-technology control restriction.
- Consortium required
- Yes
Unless the specific topic conditions provide otherwise, the consortium must include at least three legal entities as beneficiaries, independent from one another and each established in a different country: at least one independent legal entity in an EU Member State and at least two other independent legal entities each in different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Affiliated entities do not count toward any minimum consortium-composition criterion. This is the General Annex B default for this IA topic.
- Other condition
- The Work Programme classifies this topic as a Innovation Action.
- Other condition
- 31 March 2027 at 17:00 Brussels local time, as stated for this call in the Work Programme overview.
- Other condition
- When a project uses satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data or services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS; other data and services may also be used.
- Other condition
- The call overview indicates around 3 project(s) expected to be funded for this topic. This is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed award count or consortium-size rule.
This expected project count is an indicative planning estimate, not a guaranteed number of awards or a consortium-size rule.
- Other condition
- For up to four years after the action ends, the granting authority may object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results under the cited Annex 5 provision.
- Other condition
- solar cells/modules should exceed commercially available conversion efficiency while retaining comparable reliability/degradation performance
- Other condition
- multi-MWp-ready resilient energy-efficient defect-free production technology
- Other condition
- reporting to EUPI-PV is expected
- Technology readiness level at end, minimum
- 7 TRL
The topic states an expected end-of-project TRL 7 target; this is not a hard maximum or minimum eligibility threshold, and activities may start at any TRL.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €36,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Funding intensity, maximumnon-profit legal entity beneficiaries
- 100 percent of eligible costs per beneficiary
General Annex G allows this entity-category maximum for Innovation Actions; it is not a grant guarantee. For lump-sum grants the rate is already applied in the amount methodology.
- Funding intensity, maximumbeneficiaries other than non-profit legal entities
- 70 percent of eligible costs per beneficiary
General Annex G maximum for Innovation action. For lump-sum/unit grants, funding rate is applied through the amount-setting methodology rather than shown as a separate rate in the grant agreement.
- Expected contribution per project
- €12,000,000
Commission estimate of EU contribution per project for this exact topic, taken from the full own-topic overview row and the column heading identifying amounts in EUR millions. The Work Programme expressly says this estimate does not preclude proposals requesting different amounts; it is not a fixed ceiling, floor, guarantee, or the topic allocation.
- Topic allocation
- €36,000,000
Indicative budget allocated to this individual topic; not a per-project grant cap.
Personnel and services
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
Horizon MGA Annex 2 identifies employees, natural persons under direct contracts and seconded persons as personnel cost categories; employee costs must relate to personnel working for the beneficiary under an employment contract/equivalent appointing act and assigned to the action. This records an eligible cost category, not a required hire or salary entitlement. The topic specifies expected TRL and production-technology scope, but no employment positions, headcount or pay rates.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 3 Dec 2026
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL5-2027-02 · BATTERIES and ENERGY
- Types of action
- HORIZON Innovation Actions
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 24 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 7 Oct 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 23 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.