Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Australia: SilexSolar halts PV module production

Australia’s only photovoltaic panel producer has suspended all of its manufacturing operations. Most of its employees have been made redundant.

SilexSolar has suspended all photovoltaic manufacturing operations.

SilexSolar

SilexSolar cites a lack of political support in Australia’s solar industry, global pricing pressure, and the high Australian dollar as the main reasons for its decision.

Having halted production, the company says its plant has been placed in a "'care and maintenance' mode until the future direction of the business can be determined". In addition to most of the manufacturing employees being made redundant, several engineering, technical and administrative employees have also been let go.

SilexSolar says that it has "sufficient" module inventory to support its sales over the next few months. Looking forward, it will concentrate its efforts on the residential rooftop and commercial medium-scale markets.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the affected plant is located in Homebush, New South Wales. It added that around 45 jobs have been lost. This takes the toll to 75 redundancies made by SilexSolar this year: in July it shifted from making its own solar cells to sourcing them from Hareon.