Swiss-owned solar manufacturer Meyer Burger has started production at its heterojunction (HJT) module assembly plant in Goodyear, Arizona.
The plant – which will have an annual nameplate capacity of 2GW once fully operational – passed an audit for the UL testing standards required for the official start of production. The German plant in Thalheim will provide solar cells and will continue to do so until the US solar cell plant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is operational.
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The operational date for the solar cell plant will be dependent on the company securing 45X financing.
On top of starting production for the module assembly plant in Arizona, which received equipment earlier this year, Meyer Burger secured a three-year supply agreement with an undisclosed “major US energy company”. From January 2026, the company will provide 600MW of modules per year from the Goodyear plant. The contract could be extended by two years from the customer side and will be effective as soon as the financing of the solar cell plant in Colorado has been completed.
This is not the first supply agreement secured from Meyer Burger at its Arizona module assembly plant. Last year, it signed a 1.25GW PV module agreement with German developer Baywa r.e to provide HJT solar panels from 2025 through 2029. Both supply agreements seem to bring the total to 1.85GW – although Meyer Burger highlights 1.75GW instead – and account for almost all of the plant’s annual nameplate capacity for the coming years.
Article 45X financing
Finally, the company has also made progress in the financing of its US operations, after shutting down its module assembly plant in Germany earlier this year. A US bank completed the due diligence for the monetisation under Article 45X of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Swiss-owned company is currently negotiating the loan agreements and aims for closing and disbursement by the middle of the third quarter of 2024.
The company submitted the final application for a loan from the US Department of Energy (DoE) regarding the solar cell plant in Colorado. This is on top of the company raising nearly US$230 million in share right issues to fund the company’s US expansion.
Furthermore, Meyer Burger initiated a strategic partnership with an undisclosed US industry and technology company, which will enable the solar manufacturer to produce solar modules with an increased share of domestic-made components. Meyer Burger is working on binding agreements, which are expected to be finalised in the third quarter.
