Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Meyer Burger to stop solar cell production in Colorado

Meyer Burger stops solar cell production in Colorado
Meyer Burger stops solar cell production in Colorado Keystone-SDA

Swiss solar panel company Meyer Burger has introduced restructuring measures that affect its operations in the United States.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The company wants to limit itself to the production of solar modules in Arizona and stop operations at another factory in the US.

The planned construction of a solar cell production facility in Colorado Springs is currently not financially viable and will therefore be stopped, the company announced on Monday. The focus is now on module production in Goodyear in the US state of Arizona.

+ Mountaintop solar farms spark tension in Switzerland

Capacities in Arizona are currently being ramped up. However, the planned collaboration with a US technology group cannot be realised due to the strategy adjustments.

Contrary to the original plans, Meyer Burger intends to maintain production in Germany. The existing cell production site in Thalheim near Bitterfeld-Wolfen will remain in full operation and will continue to form the backbone of Meyer Burger’s solar cell supply in the future.

More

Under the current market conditions, these solar cells are the most economical option for supplying module production at Goodyear. The existing long-term purchase agreements could thus probably be serviced and the production capacities in Goodyear. However, talks are also currently underway with other customers for the purchase of additional quantities.

Better profits expected

The nominal capacity at the Goodyear plant is 1.4 gigawatts. The expansion of the nominal module production capacity by a further 0.7 gigawatts at this location has also been suspended for the time being, but remains an option.

Meyer Burger expects these measures to result in significantly lower financing requirements in the near future. The previously targeted debt financing through the monetisation of special US tax credits will be pursued to a lesser extent.

The medium-term target level of operating profit and the Group’s leverage ratio are also expected to be significantly lower than previously anticipated.

Meyer Burger also announced a restructuring and cost reduction programme “to achieve sustainable profitability”.

More

Debate
Hosted by: Simon Bradley

What do you think about solar farms in the Swiss Alps?

Building large solar parks in high-mountain regions is controversial. Join the discussion.

61 Comments
View the discussion

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR