Photovoltaic module manufacturer Meyer Burger has reduced module capacity at one of its German production plants due to above-average employee absenteeism caused by COVID-19-related illnesses and the associated quarantine.

Of the two production lines at the Freiberg module plant in Saxony, only one is operating, and Meyer Burger has adjusted its production schedule and expects the reduction to continue through the end of January 2022.

(Meyer Burger opened a 400MW module plant earlier this year)

In previous months, Meyer Burger revealed that supply chain bottlenecks had slowed the plant's capacity ramp-up, and that component shortages had delayed the start-up of individual parts of the line.

Earlier this year Meyer Burger opened the Thalheim plant, in addition to a cell plant in Thalheim, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Both plants have already started production and have an annual capacity of 400 MW.

Meyer Burger said this week that the company has temporarily limited capacity at the plant due to the ongoing investment required for expansion.

Meyer Burger said the production cut would have a slight impact on a small number of orders, while the capacity restriction would have a negative impact on sales in 2021. The company reported sales of 18 million Swiss francs ($19.7 million) for the first half of the year. At the same time, Meyer Burger said it will raise prices from next year due to rising costs and has informed customers of the price increase.

When Meyer Burger announced its first-half results in August, it revealed that the company had about 30 customers, including distributors such as BayWa r.e., Krannich Solar, IBC Solar, Sonepar and Memodo in Europe and U.S. distributor CED Greentech.

Despite the disruptions, Meyer Burger said the company's order book continues to make positive progress, which is also reflected in the growing outstanding orders. The company is "very optimistic" about the solar market in 2022.

Germany's new coalition government plans to increase Germany's installed solar capacity to 200 GW by 2030, double the previous target. meyer Burger expects the company to benefit from this plan, in addition to policy support for solar in the U.S. Meyer Burger hopes to build a 400 MW module production plant in 2022.

In a September announcement, Meyer Burger said it would decide on the location of the plant by the end of this year. The plant will produce modules for residential, commercial and industrial as well as utility projects.

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