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Schüco exits thin film business

The thin film crisis has hit Schüco. The company has said it will permanently stop thin film module production, and research and development.

Schüco will permanently stop thin film module production and thin film research and development.

Schüco

The planned stop will happen later this year, according to Schüco's plan. The company is already planning to close the plant in Großröhrsdorf in Saxony, Germany by end of this month. A month later, the production halls in Osterweddingen in Saxony-Anhalt will stop running and thereafter by the end of the year, the research and development department in Bielefeld. Schüco says that "given the market situation there is unfortunately no alternative to this".

Around 270 employees have been affected by this decision with more than half of them sitting in Saxony. They will receive compensation in relation to their length of employment and monthly income, states the report released by Schüco.

Schüco had bought the plant from the insolvent company Sunfilm in 2010. The "difficult global political and economic conditions that exist for the photovoltaic industry at the moment" has been cited as the main reason for the closures.

The existing excess capacity, lack of demand and falling prices in 2011 also led to this situation for Schüco. The unexpected high falls in crystalline module prices in the last year, says the company, makes it hard for thin film to compete, despite massive savings made. Under current market conditions, to ensure sustainable growth, the decision fell to give up in-house production and research on thin film modules.