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About the Episode:
Ardes Johnson, President of Meyer Burger Americas, introduces us to Meyer Burger, the 70 yr old Swiss firm whose equipment production lines and innovative technological breakthroughs have helped such industry stalwarts as Trina Solar and REC scale to multi-GW factories around the world. Ardes takes us through their groundbreaking Heterojunction Technology (HJT) and SmartWire Connection Technology that enhance solar energy output while minimizing resource use. Meyer Burger is leading the way in refining technologies like Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) cells and tandem modules, and is expanding manufacturing operations from Germany to the U.S. The company is constructing solar facilities in Goodyear, AZ and Colorado Springs. Ardes shares his extensive experience gained from starting off as a Nuclear Officer in the Navy to working at GE, SolarWorld, Tesla, and JLM Energy. He underscores the necessity of policy stability for the growth of the solar industry and calls upon stakeholders and policymakers to unite for long-term policy support. This is aimed at propelling American solar manufacturing forward to contribute to global climate goals.
Key Takeaways:
Technology: Heterojunction technology forms the core of Meyer Burger's innovation beachhead, and they have efforts underway to further lift efficiencies through IBC cells, tandem modules, and the incorporation of, dare we say it… perovskite.
Infrastructure: To establish and nurture a vibrant domestic solar manufacturing industry, immense investments are needed, underpinned by solid policy stability. Meyer Burger is investing in not just a solar module manufacturing plant, but is also bringing a CELL fab to the US As well…that takes guts (and know-how).
Partnerships: A combination of strong partnerships and customer commitments have enabled Meyer Burger to accelerate its U.S. manufacturing plans. It cannot be overstated how important the UP-FRONT customer pull-through is to the success of all the major manufacturing announcements we’ve been seeing. If you don’t see customer commitments behind these announcements, question reality.
NOTEWORTHY QUOTE:
“I want to make fewer modules but get the same gigawatt output, right? Get more output on a roof, get more output in the field, do it in a sustainable way, do it in an ethical way with quality product. And that’s really what Meyer Burger is all about.”
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ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 16-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
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