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By Nora Miethke
According to the solar manufacturer Meyer Burger now also threatens the Dresden-based company Solarwatt with the relocation of its module production. "If there are no prompt decisions from Brussels and Berlin, for example on the resilience bonus, we may be forced to relocate production from Dresden to other existing production sites abroad," emphasizes CEO Detlef Neuhaus.
It is no longer economically viable to produce solar modules in Germany and Europe. The German solar industry is complaining that prices have fallen by 60 percent in the past six months due to competition from China. If the situation does not fundamentally improve by the middle of the year, "then we will have to make a decision and that could mean closing production in Dresden. I'm sorry to hear that," says Neuhaus.
Solarwatt currently employs 710 people across Europe, 600 of them in Germany. According to the company, around 120 employees would be affected by the potential plant closure.
Neuhaus wants to counter the false impression that the entire company is on the brink of closure. The Handelsblatt had announced an interview with him on the front page with the headline: "Solarwatt boss warns of factory closure". Despite the "adverse circumstances", the company is still on a firm footing, it said. This is because, unlike pure producers of solar components, Solarwatt specialized in the development, distribution and installation of integrated photovoltaic systems more than ten years ago. This also includes solutions for electromobility and the operation of heat pumps. This complete package makes the company "fit for the future", the company assures.
Freiburg solar start-up builds gigawatt factory in the USA
While Solarwatt and Meyer Burger are threatening to leave the company Nexwafe Nails with heads. The Freiburg-based start-up, a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISEhas founded a US subsidiary to drive forward the construction of a solar wafer production facility in the USA. A gigawatt factory with a capacity of six gigawatts is planned. "At the same time, we are pressing ahead with the construction of our first commercial production facility in Bitterfeld as planned," said Nexwafe CEO Davor Sutija. A capacity of 250 megawatts is planned there.
The company will cooperate closely with the US authorities and "use the incentives of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) to establish local wafer production in the gigawatt range", it says. With the IRA, the US government plans to invest 369 billion US dollars in climate protection and strengthening future industries alone. The funds are to flow over a period of ten years in the form of tax credits to buyers of electric vehicles, environmentally friendly technology goods and green electricity, among other things. The law also provides for state subsidies for climate-friendly projects such as the construction of solar factories.
