SolarWorld AG has announced the acquisition of Bosch Solar Energy’s solar cell and panel factory in Germany, raising the company’s manufacturing capacity to over one gigawatt (GW) and making it the largest solar cell producer in the world outside China.
Subject to pending antitrust approval and other closing conditions, SolarWorld will acquire Bosch’s Arnstadt plant, retaining roughly 800 employees, in February 2014.
The plant has a production capacity of around 700 megawatts (MW) of solar cells along with 200 MW of solar panels each year. This capacity, combined with SolarWorld’s other facilities in Germany and the United States will form the largest solar group in the western world, according to Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld AG.
“With the locations of Arnstadt/Thuringia, Freiberg/Saxony and Hillsboro/United States, the gigawatt manufacturer arises that was long called for in the solar industry by European politics. With the best technology and the best quality, we will assume a leadership role in the solar industry. We are going to implement the energy transition in practice.”
The company has been heavily involved in the so-called solar trade wars in which solar manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe have sought to curb the “dumping” of cheap Chinese photovoltaic materials by pressuring lawmakers to impose higher import tariffs on China’s solar producers who allegedly gain an unfair market advantage through domestic subsidies.
The merger is a ray of light for the 1,100 Bosch Solar Energy employees who were told in March they faced the axe when the company announced it was abandoning production of crystalline photovoltaics.
“This makes it likely that we can offer jobs to roughly 1,100 of our presently 1,500 associates in Arnstadt. Instead of closure, our aim was to find purchasers with a viable industrial concept and a good reputation, and that take a long-term view that offers prospects for the future. With today’s signing, we have reached an important milestone,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, Bosch chairman.
