SolarWorld

Parts of this article (those related to SunPower bought SolarWorld Americas[1]) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2018)

SolarWorld AG

Company type	Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as	FWB: SWV
Industry	Photovoltaics
Founded	1975
Headquarters	Bonn, Germany
Key people	Frank H. Asbeck (founder and CEO), Georg Gansen (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Products	Solar cells, wafers, PV modules and systems
Revenue	€803,066 (2016)[2]
Operating income	€63,400 (2016)[2]
Net income	€87.3 million (2010)[3]
Total assets	€686,943 (2016)[2]
Total equity	€121,808 (2016)[2]
Number of employees	3,034 (incl. temporary workers) (2016)[2]
Subsidiaries	SolarWorld Innovations GmbH SolarWorld Industries Sachsen GmbH
Website	www.solarworld.com

SolarWorld is a German company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of photovoltaic products worldwide by integrating all components of the solar value chain, from feedstock (polysilicon) to module production, from trade with solar panels to the promotion and construction of turn-key solar power systems. The group controls the development of solar power technologies at all levels in-house.

SolarWorld AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange,^[4] the Photovoltaik Global 30 Index and the ÖkoDAX.

In May 2017, wholly owned subsidiary SolarWorld Americas, based in Oregon, US, joined fellow American solar panel manufacturer Suniva in its Section 201 trade action to request relief from what it claimed are unfair practices from solar panel importers to the United States.^[5] The requested remedy was a tariff on imported solar panels.^[6] FirstSolar, the largest US solar panel manufacturer, joined the action on October 10, 2017, while the Solar Energy Industry Association (the major American solar trade association) was leading the opposition to the tariff requests.^[7][8]

The company filed for insolvency of its German subsidiaries alone in May 2017. While subsidiary SolarWorld America was not itself insolvent, it subsequently was put up for sale or other action to help resolve the debts of the German parent company. In the beginning of August 2017, leaving all liabilities behind, all the assets alone were acquired by the original Founder of SolarWorld Ag, Frank Asbeck along with Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) to form SolarWorld Industries GmbH, thus becoming completely debt-free and the only Solar Manufacturer in the world with zero-debt and zero liability. According to the Press Release issued by SolarWorld Industries GmbH, it will now have just 500 employees, drastically down from earlier, thus cutting costs. According to the company, the company will continue its transition to mono PERC-only cells production. The new entity, SolarWorld Industries GmbH takes over the production facilities and distribution businesses in Europe, Asia and Africa. "We plan to start with a production capacity of 700 MW, which can also be boosted to the previous capacity of more than 1GW. At launch, the company will have 515 employees. Of these, more than 12% are employed in research and more than 5% are trainees,” he said adding that the new company had already signed a 25MW order, without giving further details.^[9]

The newly founded SolarWorld Industries GmbH filed for insolvency again in March 2018.^[10] In June 2018 the regional public TV station MDR reported, that most of SolarWorlds production workers have been transferred into other forms of employment and production will be closed by end of September.^[11]

More than two years after the insolvency, the Solarworld factory in Freiberg gets a new opportunity. The buildings are sold for around twelve million euros to the new owner. The Swiss company Meyer Burger wants to produce solar cells in Freiberg and Bitterfeld-Wolfen. The production is expected to start in the first half of 2021.^[12]