Solar module manufacturer plans to produce in Bavaria this year

16.05.2025

Source: E & M powernews

A company plans to manufacture PV modules in Spessart from the fall. The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 250 MW. Answers to "made in Germany" from BSW Solar.

Made in Germany - this is what Solar Fabrik GmbH is working towards. The company is building "Factory One" in Hösbach near Aschaffenburg. After eight years, it wants to produce solar modules in its home country again. "Solar modules manufactured in Germany have a market and we are now tapping into it," said Solar Fabrik CEO Christian Laibacher at the ground-breaking ceremony a year ago. The production hall has now been built and the machines have been delivered since May.

Series production is set to start this fall. The plant will initially run in single-shift operation in 2026, by which time the production capacity should already be over 100 MW. "We are starting small and can scale up," says Yves Tamborini, Head of Business Development, explaining the approach. Five to six employees are planned for the start. At the Intersolar trade fair, which ran until May 9, Solar Fabrik was also looking for sales staff. The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 250 MW in three-shift operation with 15 employees. The management estimates the investment volume at 6 million euros.

Target group: homeowners

Modules for a single market segment are to come from Hösbach: "Our first target group is homeowners," explains Tamborini. Modules made in Germany are only competitive to a limited extent for solar parks and large rooftop systems.

"More and more customers want an inverter and PV storage system from Germany. And they also want solar modules from Germany," adds Laibacher, who sees this as an expression of safety and quality awareness. Initially, many components will still come from Asia, but the integration of European supply chains is planned in the medium term.
Like other companies in the industry, Solar Fabrik is active in Asia. In recent years, modules with a total capacity of around 750 MW have been produced there. Production in the Far East is to continue at the same level. Laibacher puts the price of domestically produced modules at less than 20 cents per watt, which is supposedly only slightly more expensive than modules made in China.

Association: Potential can be leveraged with subsidies

The German Solar Industry Association sees fundamental potential for producers. "There are research-strong and innovative companies in the EU that, given the right political framework and with financially strong partners, would be able to produce the widespread technologies domestically and, above all, to transfer innovative solar module technologies to the mass market," said the Managing Director of BSW Solar, Carsten Körnig, when asked by this editorial team.

The decisive factor is the funding backdrop "in international comparison as well as the availability of financing instruments to bridge cost disadvantages during the ramp-up phase, for a limited period of time," says Körnig.

Opportunities for special technologies

According to the association's analysis, the relative share of additional costs
European components in the system costs is lowest in the home segment, which leads to greater leeway there. Nevertheless, Körnig emphasizes that bridging the cost differences and targeted promotion is also recommended here, "as investors and dealers have insufficient incentives to invest in a European PV value chain over several stages due to the uncertainty regarding cost development".

Mixed systems from European and Asian production reduce the additional costs and could therefore be more competitive and even eligible for subsidies under certain conditions according to the current wording of the EU Net Zero Industry Act.

Irrespective of this, BSW Solar recognizes great opportunities "in the area of special technologies". Körnig refers, for example, to former niche products from building-integrated PV or agri-PV. "Innovative technologies such as perovskite tandem modules or other advanced products in the area of maximum efficiency also offer market opportunities in the area of 'early adopters' (private early adopters - the editors)".

A renaissance of "Made in Germany" currently seems a long way off. Körnig recalls a survey conducted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2022, according to which China accounts for 75 percent of global module production, 85 percent of cell production and 97 percent of global wafer production: "The situation has not improved since then."

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems listed nine module suppliers in Germany in its "Photovoltaics Report" in July 2024. Körnig's conclusion: "There should no longer be more than a dozen module producers in Germany."

Author: Manfred Fischer