Switzerland based Meyer Burger Technology AG producing solar cells and panels in Germany has picked Goodyear city in Arizona, US to build its 2nd heterojunction (HJT) module manufacturing fab with an initial capacity of 400 MW. The US fab will be the company's 1st manufacturing facility outside of Europe. It will have the potential to be expanded to 1.5 GW annual capacity in the future.
Notably, the company had been on the lookout for a US location for its 2nd module fab as it aims to expand its total cell and module capacity to 1.4 GW each by the end of 2022 and to 7 GW each by 2027-end (see Meyer Burger Raises Capital To Expand Production Capacity).
In Germany, Meyer Burger currently operates a 400 MW solar cell production facility in Thalheim and a 400 MW module facility in Freiberg.
"The development of a manufacturing facility in Arizona will provide flexibility, ease of access, and resilience for Meyer Burger's customers in the growing North American market," explained the management. It will also provide Meyer Burger access to diversified and talented workforce, and proximity to customers thereby minimizing its carbon footprint, it added.
Meyer Burger's Goodyear fab will have capabilities to manufacture modules for residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop and utility scale solar applications. The initial 400 MW capacity will generate around 250 jobs, and when scaled to 1.5 GW annually, the fab is expected to create over 500 jobs.
"Solar energy will be critical to achieving U.S. and global clean energy goals, and our proprietary heterojunction cell technology and patented SmartWire module technology enable us to produce products of the highest quality and performance in order to offer our customers economically competitive solar components," stated Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt.
The company has taken up space as the 1st tenant in a newly constructed building at market conditions in Goodyear.