A few days after officially opening its 400 MW solar cell fab in Germany's Thalheim, solar cell and module producer Meyer Burger has now announced the opening of its module factory, also with 400 MW annual capacity in Germany's Frieberg, Saxony. At the cell fab, it will be producing up to 200,000 solar cells a day once it is fully ramped up in June 2021 (see Meyer Burger Solar Cell Production Plant Now Operational).
Heterojunction (HJT) cells produced in Thalheim, using the company's own SmartWire cell interconnection technology, will travel to its Freiberg, Saxony based location where previously Solarworld produced its panels, and processed into solar modules.
Meyer Burger calls the Freiberg fab the 'most modern and environmentally friendly manufacturing facility in Europe of its kind' With more than 200 people working, the fab is equipped to roll out about 3,000 lead-free modules a day after the 400 MW factory is fully ramped up.
Earlier the company had said it plans to further expand the capacity here from 400 MW to 800 MW, but now it says the idea is to scale it up to 1 GW. It added that the company is prepared for the expansion and will target the same as soon as possible, creating further jobs. Eventually the plan is to scale up solar cell and module production capacity to 5 GW by 2026.
"With the opening of both production facilities, the securing of all supply chains and the establishment of the manufacturing and sales organizations, key milestones along Meyer Burger's transformation from a pure equipment and technology provider to an integrated manufacturer of solar cells and solar modules have been achieved according to plan," stated the company.
The opening was held virtually with the company representatives holding an online panel with local politicians.
Meyer Burger has also expanded its management team appointing Daniel Menzel as the company's managing director (Industries) for production, supply chain and purchasing, logistics and quality assurance (see Meyer Burger Expands Senior Management Team).