By Paul Gerke, Renewable Energy World
A domestic solar supply chain has been slowly strengthening in the U.S. on a steady diet of Section 45 Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credits (courtesy of the ever-nutritious Inflation Reduction Act), but the viability of solar cell manufacturing in the United States is still up in the air.
Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger dampened recent progress today after announcing the cancellation of a planned 2 GW facility at a former Intel semiconductor site in Colorado.
“The planned construction of a solar cell production facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, is no longer financially viable for the company due to recent developments,” read part of a statement released by Meyer Burger. “The project will therefore be discontinued.”
Meyer Burger said it would delay releasing its latest financial results until the end of September or later, as management draws up a program for “comprehensive restructuring and cost-cutting.” In March, the company announced the closure of a plant in Freiberg, Germany. The plan (for now) will be to utilize Meyer Burger’s production facility in Thalheim, Germany as the company’s primary maker of solar cells.
Meyer Burger will continue to operate its 1,400 MW module assembly facility in Goodyear, Arizona, which started production earlier this year, but will pump the brakes on expanding that site, noting the facility is capable of supporting 2 GW or more in the future.
“Under the current market conditions, these [German] solar cells are the most economical option for supplying the module production in Goodyear,” noted the press release.
Meyer Burger isn’t the only company that has changed course on constructing a stateside solar facility. In February, CubicPV’s Board of Directors axed plans for a 10 GW wafer factory blaming “market dynamics,” construction costs, and a “collapse in wafer pricing.”
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