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Crashing solar-panel prices may force one of Europe's biggest production plants to close

Aruni Soni
·2 min read
solar panel farm
Photovoltaic power panels stand at Abaste's El Bonillo Solar Plant while wind turbines spin at a wind farm on the background on December 2, 2015 in El Bonillo, Albacete province, Spain.Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

  • Meyer Burger warned one of Europe's largest solar panel production sites may shut down.

  • That's because a flood of Chinese solar module imports brought prices crashing down.

  • "With a deteriorating market environment in Europe, continuing with full-scale European solar manufacturing is not sustainable for the time being."

An oversupply of solar modules has brought prices crashing down, and it may force one of Europe's biggest solar production plants to close shop.

Swiss company Meyer Burger, a major solar panel producer in Europe, said Wednesday it may shut down its factory in Freiberg, Germany, Bloomberg reported.

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A final decision is expected next month, and closure could come as soon as April. If it goes through with the closure, the firm said it would focus on ramping up production in the US.

"With a deteriorating market environment in Europe, continuing with full-scale European solar manufacturing is not sustainable for the time being," Meyer Burger said in a press release.

Following the news, the company's stock price tanked as much as 46% in Zurich.

The glut of solar panel supply was created after Chinese solar products flooded the European market last year. As a result, the European Union is seeing an estimated 90 gigawatts of solar modules piling up in warehouses.

And prices have tipped into a freefall, crashing 50% in 2023 as the US is also seeing an oversupply of solar modules.

The International Energy Administration forecasts that China will account for 85% of solar module manufacturing capacity expansion by 2028, and that the oversupply of solar modules will continue.

Meyer Burger said that the lack of support from policymakers is also driving the potential closure of its Freiberg unit, saying the company was hurt by the "absence of policies creating a level playing field."

"Meyer Burger's withdrawal as a solar module manufacturer in Europe would further cement the continent's dependence on imports from China and leave Europe's solar energy transition with less safeguards for the future," the company said in the release.

Read the original article on Business Insider