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German newcomer plans to start production at 15 MW module factory
The April 12 dedication ceremony for the new module factory building
was the first time S.M.D Solarmanufaktur Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG had
entered the public arena. But the company was founded back in Nov.
2001, and construction of the facility in Prenzlau, about 100 km north
of Berlin, began last December.
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© S.M.D. |
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More
than a model: On April 12, the new German company
S.M.D. celebrated the dedication ceremony for its new
15 MW factory. |
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In August, the company plans to present
the first of 1.5 MW in modules slated for production in 2002. In the
coming year, S.M.D. hopes to expand annual production up to the
factory's 15 MW capacity. S.M.D. will assemble only crystalline
silicon cell-based standard modules up to power ratings of 150 W. The
certification process for IEC 61215 and protection class II has
already been in the works with prototypes for months.
The 15 MW production equipment will be »highly automated« and operated
by 50 employees, but not too sophisticated. »We won't have as high a
degree of automation as Flabeg,« says S.M.D.'s Jacobus Smit.
S.M.D. was begun by the engineering firm Oldenburger Ingenieurbüro
Energieplanung (IfE), which has operated an office in Prenzlau since
1995. According to IfE's own statements, they were involved mainly in
the planning of wind power systems that accounted for investments of
about €100 million ($87.2 million). IfE managing director Markus
Eriksen and his authorized officer, Jacobus Smit, are also in charge
of S.M.D., and Eriksen is one of the firm's main shareholders. S.M.D.
raised funds with the help of several silent partners; it doesn't want
to reveal the exact amount, but »it is several million [Euro],« says
Detmar Dettmann, director of sales and marketing. Dettmann would say
only that a quarter of the investment of €8 million ($7 million) comes
from subsidies of the German state of Brandenburg.
Jochen Siemer
© PHOTON International, May 2002
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