Residential rooftop solar systems installer 1KOMMA5° will set up a local solar module production plant in Germany, after launching its own solar panel at the end of 2022. It has picked TOPCon solar technology for the fab.
Having launched its own solar module with Germany-sourced polysilicon in 2022, the company has now decided to take the next step by producing modules on its own.
Targeted to host 1 GW capacity under phase I by 2024, the company expects to locate the production site in either Brandenburg or Saxony. It further plans to scale up the total solar module production capacity to 5 GW annually by 2030.
The CEO and co-founder of 1KOMMA5° Philipp Schröder explained, "We need around 5 GW annually for our customers alone if we can reach our goal and convert 500,000 buildings per year to climate-neutral power generation, heat and mobility."
Additionally, it is working on a technology lab in Berlin where it will further develop the company's own energy management software Heartbeat and dynamic electricity tariff Dynamic Pulse. The lab will also have people working on design and quality requirements for solar module production.
Schröder added, "We want to increase value creation in the long term and make hardware production more sustainable, so that 1KOMMA5°'s own module production is the next logical step."
To fund its Berlin plans, the company has also raised a double-digit million Euro amount from venture capital firm 2150 for the further development and expansion of software applications related to Heartbeat.
A unicorn, 1KOMMA5° aims to grow its sales to €500 million in 2023 and double it to €10 billion/year by 2030 (see 1KOMMA5° Is New Unicorn On The Block).
Recently, German solar module manufacturer Solarwatt announced its foray into TOPCon PV technology (see TOPCon Solar Module Production In Germany).