Results of a recent photovoltaic energy life cycle study are presented. The focus lies on the energy payback time (EPBT) and the CO 2 emission rate achievable with state-of-the-art industrial production chains for conventional monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon modules. The data have been provided by European manufacturers and represent the processes in their European-primarily German-production sites. The analysis covers all steps from metal grade silicon refinement down to assembled modules as shipped to the customer. Balance of system contributions have not been included in the analysis and in the result figures, both for EPBT and CO 2 emissions. The resulting EPBT values for the modules only are 1.09 and 0.93 years for monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon, respectively, both under southern European conditions. CO 2 emission rates strongly depend on the scenario considered, ranging from 18 g/kWh in southern Europe to 60 g/kWh in northern Germany under worst-case conditions for useful lifetime and degradation.

Firms have been shown to prioritize between growth and efficiency increase sequentially depending on their level of profitability. Adding arguments from the attention‐based view to this discussion, we hypothesize that actions of competitors in the marketplace could moderate this relationship. Using data from business simulations, we specifically test whether the influence of firm profitability on the prioritization decision varies with changes in competitor products' pricing, promotion, and quality. Our analysis reveals that product promotion intensifications of competitors strengthen the positive relationship between firm profitability and the prioritization of growth relative to efficiency increase, whereas product price reductions weaken this relationship.