The PV PILOT project has been completed. Under the leadership of RCT Solutions and with the participation of leading German PV institutes (Fraunhofer ISE, ISFH, HZB, and ISC Konstanz), a comprehensive concept for the establishment of an industrial pilot line for PV production in Germany was developed in just eight months.
Instead of a new, cost-intensive plant, the consortium proposes a pragmatic solution: the distributed use of existing research lines. These cover all current cell technologies (TOPCon, IBC, HJT, Tandem) and can be used in a coordinated manner at short notice.
At the same time, turnkey projects were identified as a major opportunity for mechanical engineering. In order to secure such projects – especially in the export market – a proposal for a government-backed guarantee program was developed.
At the PV PILOT final workshop in June 2025, the project results were evaluated together with key players in the solar industry. In the picture, Jochen Rentsch (Fraunhofer ISE) on the left and Rudolf Harney (ISC Konstanz) on the right present the results of their work with the experts.
👉 Three key recommendations from PV PILOT:
- Establishment of a distributed pilot line at institutes
- Joint research for next-gen processes
- Securing turnkey projects for export
The final report is available for download here.