Bosch is a name synonymous with excellence in German engineering, particularly in the automotive and household appliance sector. The company is also now making its presence felt in the solar power industry.
Bosch Solar Energy AG has formally opened its new crystalline solar cell production plant, an important step towards a fully integrated facility that will handle everything from the processing of silicon ingots to solar panel production.
The new solar cell plant, located in Arnstadt, Germany, will boost Bosch’s production by an extra 10,000 cells an hour – around 90 million solar cells a year. Bosch states its solar cells are characterised by high, stable output with narrow output tolerance.
The new 12,000 square-meter facility also includes infrastructure for silicon wafer production and the completion of a solar panel production facility in an adjoining building is expected in the next few months.
Bosch says its full integration strategy will not only guarantee optimum performance and quality from its solar panel products, but also allow the company to make substantial production cost reductions according to Holger von Hebel, Chief Executive at Bosch Solar Energy AG.
Bosch Solar Energy AG aims to almost triple its nominal solar cell production capacity to around 630 megawatts and would have invested around € 530 million in the Arnstadt project by 2012, creating a total of 1,100 jobs in the process.
In November last year, Bosch became the majority stakeholder in Aleo Solar AG as part of moves to increase its solar panel business.
The Bosch Group, started in Stuttgart in 1886, comprises of Robert Bosch GmbH and more than 300 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 60 countries.
