Recently, Meyer Burger, a European manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) modules, unveiled its 2023 semi-annual report. According to this report, the company experienced a significant uptick in revenue during the first half of the year, reaching CHF 97 million—a remarkable increase of around 70% compared to the previous year. However, the financial picture isn’t entirely rosy, as evidenced by the negative CHF 43 million EBITDA and CHF 65 million net profit, signaling an expanding loss. Notably, revenue generated from the module business tallied up to CHF 0.93 billion, reflecting an average selling price (ASP) of CHF 0.45/Wp. This represents a decline from the CHF 0.5/Wp full-year ASP recorded in 2022. Meyer Burger’s disclosed data reveals that module sales prices in the first quarter remained largely on par with those of 2022. Although the company managed to enhance its gross margin by scaling up production, profitability suffered a setback starting from the second quarter. This downturn was instigated by the drop in module prices, resulting in a deterioration of the company’s overall profitability.
The company has announced a strategic focus on expanding its capacity primarily in the United States. The plan involves investing in 2GW of cell and module production capabilities across Colorado and Arizona. This expansion is slated to commence production in the fourth quarter of 2024, propelling the company’s overall cell and module capacity to an impressive 3.4GW. Furthermore, the company expressed its concern regarding Europe’s inadequate safeguards for bolstering local PV manufacturing. It pointed out that the European market is currently grappling with the repercussions of competitively priced PV module offerings from China. The company stated its intention to initiate production capacity growth once the European market conditions align with sustainable development criteria. While Meyer Burger undoubtedly stands as a major European player in the photovoltaic cell and module industry, it’s noteworthy that Europe plays a crucial role in supporting its photovoltaic manufacturing endeavors. As the European landscape continues to back local photovoltaic production, Meyer Burger has encountered significant financial setbacks, and shifted its focus towards expanding production capacity within the United States. This strategic move could potentially impact Europe’s photovoltaic trade policies.
