Swift Solar has acquired the core manufacturing assets and full IP portfolio of Meyer Burger, including its HJT solar cell technology
The company plans to build a GW-scale HJT solar cell and module factory in the US
It will later add perovskite layers at the same fab to produce tandem solar cells using HJT
Former Meyer Burger executives, including ex-CEO Gunter Erfurt and former Global Head of R&D Marcel Koenig, are on board with Swift Solar to support the scale-up of US manufacturing
US-based perovskite solar technology company Swift Solar has acquired the core manufacturing assets and full intellectual property (IP) portfolio of European solar manufacturer Meyer Burger.
With Meyer Burger’s heterojunction (HJT) technology, Swift Solar plans to establish a GW-scale HJT solar cell and module factory in the US, later integrating perovskite to the production line for tandem solar cells.
Spun out of Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) – now the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NRL) – Swift Solar raised $27 million in Series A financing to break ground on its maiden perovskite tandem factory in 2024 (see Swift Solar Lands $27 Million In Series A Financing).
“This acquisition puts Swift Solar on track to speed-run gigawatt-scale solar manufacturing in the United States. Everything is pointing in the same direction—tax credits, tariffs, supply chain reshoring, AI. The US needs more solar, and we need it built here,” said Swift Solar CEO Joel Jean.
He adds that Swift Solar’s perovskite-silicon tandem technology can exceed the 30% efficiency limit of traditional silicon solar cells by adding a new semiconductor on top of silicon. “We're combining German silicon manufacturing expertise with American perovskite technology leadership to build a company that can deliver not just one generation of solar technology, but many generations to follow,” according to Jean.
With the IP rights for HJT, Swift Solar can avoid the patent disputes that have affected other TOPCon and back-contact competitors. It also avoids links to the Chinese solar supply chain, which faces restrictions under several US federal policies, including trade tariffs.
Along with the equipment and IP portfolio, Swift Solar has also brought in Meyer Burger’s team to help ramp US production, led by former Meyer Burger CEO and CTO Gunter Erfurt and its former Global Head of R&D Marcel Koenig. Erfurt had left the German company in September 2024 as it launched restructuring (see Gunter Erfurt Leaves Meyer Burger As Company Initiates Restructuring).
Meyer Burger buckled under financial constraints that eventually led to its bankruptcy, and the company had to sell its assets individually. It sold US module production equipment to Waaree Solar Americas and Babacomari Solar North, and German cell manufacturing equipment to Solestial, which shifted the same to the US (see Solestial Buys Meyer Burger Equipment & Moves Cell Production To US).
Erfurt said, “I fully share Swift Solar’s strategic perspective and am excited to continue advancing this mission together with a world-class American-German team at our locations in San Carlos, California, and Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Saxony.”