As of: February 23, 2024, 1:35 p.m
By: Amy Walker
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The solar manufacturer Meyer Burger is ending the production of solar cells in Germany.
The announcement came as little surprise to the industry.
Berlin - The news that Meyer Burger wants to stop production in Germany and move to the USA is met with anger and resignation in the industry.
Essentially, no one is surprised by the Swiss company's decision to close module production in Freiberg, Saxony.
According to the industry, the fact that 500 employees will lose their jobs by the end of April is due to the federal government's inability to make a decision on how to improve conditions in this country.
They actually wanted to approve a solar package this week to keep German production in the country.
But once again there is a problem: the traffic light coalition cannot agree on a path.
As several industry representatives confirmed to this editorial team, the project is currently being blocked by the FDP.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs wants to use subsidies to keep producers in the country - which the Liberals reject.
And there has been a heated debate in the industry itself for weeks about whether subsidies – so-called “resilience bonuses” – are the right way or not.
In the solar industry, the battle is raging on a small scale that is currently affecting the economy as a whole.
Europe's solar industry is fighting on two fronts
The problem facing the local solar industry can currently be summed up in two words: China and the USA.
Asian and Chinese manufacturers are currently flooding the European market with very cheap components, the production of which is supported by Beijing.
And the Inflation Reduction Act was also added in the USA in 2022, which attracts companies in the energy transition sector with attractive subsidies.
Accordingly, several companies have already moved to the West, most recently Porsche with a new battery factory that they actually wanted to build in Baden-Württemberg.
So Europe is fighting on two fronts.
Given the location conditions, it cannot keep up with the non-European competition.
In the solar industry it looks like this: Within a year and a half, the prices for solar modules have fallen from an average of 26,000 euros to 19,000 euros.
What is good for consumers is a disaster for the German industry.
Meyer Burger is now reportedly relying on billions in subsidies in the USA: The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) results in a cumulative eligible amount of up to $1.4 billion, which can be monetized from the start of production in 2024 until the end of 2032.
Meyer Burger is the only manufacturer that produces solar cells industrially in Europe.
In addition to Thalheim in Saxony-Anhalt, Meyer Burger also has plants in Freiberg and Hohenstein-Ernstthal in Saxony in Germany.
The group's headquarters are in Thun, Switzerland.
Solarwatt reacts: “No surprise”
One of Meyer Burger's competitors, the Solarwatt company, responded to the inquiry with the sentence: "This is no surprise to us at all."
Meyer Burger and you as a solar module producer have been warning against exactly this step for at least six months if decisive measures were not taken.
“The right signals are not coming from the federal government.
Either she wants production in Germany or she doesn’t.
And if she wants it, then she has to do it."
Meyer Burger is already preparing to close its location in Freiberg, Saxony, at the end of April.
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
Solarwatt also announced a few weeks ago that it was considering ending module production in Germany.
“If nothing happens, we have to think about how our production will continue,” said Solarwatt boss Detlef Neuhaus to the
Handelsblatt
.
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In an interview with
Ippen.Media
, however, the press spokesman emphasized that Meyer Burger's decision in favor of Solarwatt had no further consequences for the time being.
And even if they had to stop production, the company and its other business divisions would remain in Germany.
“In addition, the company diversified its factory locations worldwide years ago.
“Today, Solarwatt manufactures in both Germany and Asia and is therefore independent of national political decisions,” says the company.
Of the 600 employees in Germany, around 120 would be affected if the factory were closed, it goes on to say.
Industry association finally calls for political action
The Federal Association of the Solar Industry BSW speaks of “a shame if the lights now have to go out at Germany's last solar module producers,” says managing director Carsten Körnig.
“Long delivery bottlenecks caused by the corona pandemic and the energy crisis in connection with the war in Ukraine have painfully shown that excessive dependence on individual supplier countries can be very expensive.” There is an urgent need for a response from politicians – as the industry already does been demanding for months.
Everyone in the solar world agrees that something has to happen.
The only problem is the “how” part.
So huge that it has now resulted in a public dispute between supporters and opponents of subsidies.
While producers like Meyer Burger, Heckart Solar and the BSW association insist on a subsidy policy response to the IRA, companies like 1Komma5°, Zolar and Enpal see even more dangers in it.
“This leads to market distortions and even more bureaucracy.
“That’s not the right way,” said Zolar managing director Sarah Müller recently to
Ippen.Media.
The mere announcement of such funding would lead potential customers to postpone their investments in order to benefit from them later.
The past has already taught this several times.
“The market will then be idle,” she says.
Instead, improved location conditions, less bureaucracy, tax advantages and further development of quality are needed.
Either way: Meyer Burger's decision is initially a setback for the traffic lights.
She failed to hear the industry's warnings in time and take countermeasures.
The end of the solar industry in Germany could now really be sealed.