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BlueSun Systems acquires Solartec
The German company BlueSun Systems has bought a German site for a
module factory, and singed a contract to acquire Czech cell
manufacturer Solartec
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© PHOTON International |
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Bernd
Melchior (left), responsible for R&D, and Axel P.
Assmus, chariman of the board at BlueSun Systems AG,
are planning production of the first modules in
summer. Cell supply was secured through the purchase
of the Czech manufacturer Solartec. |
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About six months after the
German company BlueSun Systems AG announced plans to build a 24 MW
module production facility (see PI 10/2001, p. 18), it has moved
closer to that goal. On Dec. 28, Düsseldorf-based BlueSun Systems
signed a sales contract for a 20,000 m² site in Gelsenkirchen.
Construction is slated to start in March, with module production
beginning only eight months later, by the end of November. In order to
have some products for sale in 2002, BlueSun Systems will build a
provisional factory for interim production on the Gelsenkirchen site
in February. The annual production target is 3.5 MW, with 2.7 MW of
their new 55 W standard module, Blue Sun EP 55, and 800 kW of the
well-known solar roof tiles from BMC – taken over by BlueSun Systems
and renamed BlueSun Technologies GmbH.
»The
2002 production is already sold,«
says Michael Victor of BlueSun Systems’ supervisory board. As soon as
regular production is established, BlueSun Systems will expand its
range of modules.
It will sell the standard modules directly to wholesalers, and the
German roof-tile maker Gebr. Laumans GmbH will continue to distribute
the solar roof tiles in Germany. But Victor is looking for additional
roof-tile manufacturers in Germany and other European countries to
license the patented BlueSun modules and clamps, since Laumans is only
a small player in the roof-tile industry.
»It’s
still at an early stage, but we are already talking to developers in
the US,«
adds Victor.
BlueSun Systems has recently solved a severe problem with which many
module manufacturers are struggling. The Dec. 21 purchase of the Czech
cell manufacturer Solartec s.r.o. will insure cell supply in the
mid-term. The currently low-capacity (800 kW) production line of the
Czechs, who are known in solar circles for their high-efficiency
monocrystalline cells up to 16.5 percent, will be expanded to 2.3 MW
by April. But since even this amount will not cover BlueSun Systems’
needs in 2002, a second line will be built. By the end of the year,
the Czech company, under the new name of BlueSun Solartec s.r.o., is
aiming for another 18 MW production capacity. An additional cell
factory based on the Solartec know-how is planned for construction at
the Gelsenkirchen-site for 2004
BlueSun Systems’ modules are the only glass-foil modules made without
ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) to encapsulate the cells. They use a
patented monofluorpolymer, which is intended to completely replace the
glass in the next generation of modules, leading to lighter and more
flexible products. ms
Michael Schmela
© PHOTON International, February 2002
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