Meyer Burger

French PV module maker Systovi, facing a sharp drop in orders, is seeking a buyer for its design, production, and commercial activities. It has been manufacturing solar energy equipment since 2008 at its Carquefou factory near Nantes, France.

The production of PV ingots and wafers remains the most highly concentrated of all the production stages in the silicon solar supply chain. Yet efforts to re-establish production in Europe and the United States are not for the faint-hearted.

Rather than pondering the introduction of trade measures against solar imports, Europe should be pragmatic about its short-term reliance on Asian panels while moving now to nurture and incentivize a domestic supply chain of the future.

Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger will seek shareholder approval for a rights issue of as much as CHF 250 million ($284 million) to finance the completion of its US manufacturing facilities in Colorado and Arizona.

The application of busbarless cell interconnection approaches could unlock the potential of heterojunction (HJT) technology, primarily by reducing the historically high silver usage of negatively-doped, “n-type” cell technology. As HJT manufacturing increases, a wave of applications may very well be on the horizon.

The current module oversupply market dynamic has coincided with efforts to bolster manufacturing outside of China by national governments and manufacturers alike. pv magazine consultant and contributor Götz Fischbeck was a part of discussions regarding made-in-Europe production, to find that protectionist measures are being called for by some.

As the 40th edition of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EUPVSEC) gets underway in Lisbon today, it’s clear that European PV manufacturing faces some difficult challenges in the current climate of low prices and strong competition on all sides. Nonetheless, the show is already revealing plenty of optimism among the continent’s PV manufacturing players.

The passage of the US Inflation Reduction Act has brought forth a range of benefits, including the decarbonization of the US grid, but challenges remain.

Compared to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by Joe Biden’s administration in the US, the EU’s approach to establishing solar manufacturing appears slow and lacking in clarity. In this blog post, I will explore the EU’s renewable energy policy, specifically its emphasis on solar manufacturing, and evaluate whether Brussels is doing enough to establish a European solar supply chain.

Meyer Burger plans to start a 2 GW cell factory in Colorado in the fourth quarter of this year.