Start-up 1komma5° wants to take over module production from Meyer Burger

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Solar production from Meyer Burger (symbolic image)

Photo: Jens Schlueter / AFP

After Meyer Burger's announcement that it would stop the production of solar modules in Germany in March, a surprising solution is emerging.

The Hamburg energy start-up 1Komma5° wants to take over the Swiss manufacturer's module production.

"If Meyer Burger completely gives up production in Saxony, we are ready to at least save module production and secure as many jobs at the site as possible," said 1komma5° boss Phillip Schröder to SPIEGEL.

His company is still interested in strengthening value creation in Europe and, in addition to producing polysilicon for its own production, also having the modules manufactured in Germany.

The Swiss company had announced that it was preparing to close its factory in Freiberg in Saxony.

Initially, production will stop in the first half of March.

This is expected to result in significant cost savings from April.

The closure is scheduled to come into force at the end of April.

The group justified the move by saying that “there is still no decision on political support measures to remedy the current market distortions caused by oversupply and dumping prices for solar modules.”

With its factory in Freiberg, Meyer Burger claims to have the largest solar module production company in Europe.

500 workers are employed at the Freiberg location.

Other manufacturers in the solar industry had also recently threatened to close local plants: China is flooding the market for solar modules with price dumping, and financial support from the state is needed to maintain the industry in Germany.

The federal government actually wanted to pay 1.3 billion euros in start-up financing.

But then the Federal Constitutional Court declared the budget unconstitutional.

The traffic light had to be saved and the post was eliminated.

Instead, there should now be so-called resilience bonuses.

Solar components from German production should receive a subsidy from the state - and thus become more competitive with goods from China.

The industry association BSW-Solar puts the annual funding costs up to 2029 at a mid-three-digit million amount.

However, these annual costs were incurred until the middle of the century, as the funding is supposed to run for 20 years.

The traffic light coalition has been discussing a resilience concept for months.

So far without success.

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