Meyer Burger and Ecosolifer sign settlement agreement on heterojunction cell line

From pv magazine Germany

Swiss solar manufacturer Meyer Burger Technology AG has reached an agreement with the Hungarian photovoltaic manufacturer Ecosolifer on a contract for the supply of a production line for heterojunction cells signed in 2015.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ecosolifer has agreed to make a partial payment of CHF890,000 (€828,000). As a consequence, Meyer Burger will report a write-off of CHF2.6 million in the current fiscal year, of which CHF1.97 million will be reported as a net loss.

Ecosolifer's project to set up the heterojunction production line in Cszorna, Hungary, was riddled with obstacles. Due to project restructuring and refinancing, there were several delays. Therefore, the planned deployment of the cell production line for 2016 could not take place. Meyer Burger stored the equipment over a longer period of time. After the project was resumed, the system was put into operation despite the difficult conditions and has now been finally accepted by Ecosolifer as part of a settlement agreement.

Meyer Burger will continue to provide services for the Hungarian photovoltaic manufacturer.

The Swiss company is currently transforming itself from a PV production equipment provider into a cell and module manufacturer. It is building a heterojunction cell production facility in Bitterfeld, in Germany, initially with an annual capacity of 400 MW, and a module production facility with the same capacity in Freiberg, Saxony. The first cells and modules should roll off the assembly line next summer.

The settlement agreement with Ecosolifer was defined by the company as “a further step to break away from their past and to concentrate on the new captive business model.” In the medium term, the Swiss company plans to upscale its production to a gigawatt-scale operation.

Ecosolifer is currently working in the Genuine Europe Solar consortium in which the wafer manufacturer Nexwafe and the module manufacturer Sunedison are also involved. By 2020, the companies are planning to build up production capacities of 2 GW for the manufacture of heterojunction modules with thin wafers.