Swiss solar manufacturer Meyer Burger has abandoned module production activities at its manufacturing facility in Goodyear, Arizona, US.
Yesterday, PV Tech reported that the company had laid off employees at the site, bringing its future into doubt. But overnight, Meyer Burger confirmed that operations at the site would cease “immediately”, and the remaining 282 employees received notices of termination.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
In its statement, Meyer Burger said it was shutting down the 1.4GW of module production capacity at the site due to “lack of funds”. It added that it is still in talks with an “ad hoc group of bondholders” about “restructuring”.
The company now has no active module manufacturing capacity. It abandoned its former module production facility in Freiburg, Germany, in January 2024 to open the Arizona site. A planned solar cell production facility in Colorado was also abandoned in August.
Meyer Burger still has a solar cell production site in Thalheim, Germany, though earlier this year it announced a reduction in shift times for workers at the site.
Meyer Burger had been the only producer of heterojunction technology (HJT) modules in the US. The majority of US producers have focused on passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology and its successor in the mainstream of the PV industry, tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon).
Both HJT and TOPCon offer higher efficiencies and other technological improvements over PERC technology, though TOPCon has emerged as the leading mass production technology over the last 18 months.
Meyer Burger said it would release further updates when they emerge, though the future of the Goodyear, Arizona facility is “uncertain”.
