More Swissness for the Swiss solar industry: Helion Energy and Meyer Burger enter into strategic partnership

Media release

Thun, Switzerland – September 11, 2023

More Swissness for the Swiss solar industry: Helion Energy and Meyer Burger enter into strategic partnership

Helion, leader in the solar industry, and photovoltaic manufacturer Meyer Burger seal a strategic partnership. The two companies are thus setting an example for a strong Swiss solar industry. To support this, the AMAG Group will prefer to use Meyer Burger panels for all its own photovoltaic plants yet to be built, such as the CHF 25 million new building currently under construction at its Academy in Lupfig.

Helion Energy AG, a member of the AMAG Group, and Meyer Burger Technology AG are committed to rebuilding the photovoltaic value chain in Switzerland as part of a strategic partnership, as Switzerland currently imports more than 90 percent of its solar modules from Asian countries. By joining forces, Helion's customers will benefit from Meyer Burger's innovative strength and broad product portfolio. Meyer Burger, in turn, has a rapidly growing and strong-selling energy pioneer at its side in Helion. Together, jobs, pioneering spirit and important know-how can be secured in Switzerland and solutions for the future can be developed and offered.

Innovative products

Noah Heynen, CEO of Helion, is looking forward to the new product offering: “Meyer Burger high-performance modules offer a number of advantages for the customer base: they are developed in Switzerland and sustainably produced in Germany. In addition, they show less degradation, i.e. lower performance losses over the years, and higher yields at all times of the year due to better temperature coefficients and low-light performance. In many cases, they also allow for better plant configuration and thus more plant output on the same area thanks to smaller modules. Meyer Burger modules are designed to last more than 30 years and come with an industry-leading warranty of at least 25 years. Overall, Meyer Burger photovoltaic modules are a great choice for customers looking for high-quality, efficient and sustainable solar modules.”

Secure supply chains, reduce risks, strengthen innovations

“We are in the process of massively expanding our production of solar cells and modules,” says Gunter Erfurt, CEO of Meyer Burger. Meyer Burger solar modules have a technological edge over Asian competitors and generate significantly higher yields over their entire lifetime. “Together with AMAG and Helion, the solar industry leader in Switzerland with the highest level of technology expertise, we will continue to expand our technology lead for the benefit of the Swiss as well as the European solar industry,” Erfurt added.

“The partnership between Helion and Meyer Burger, which has now been agreed, is a further step in the development of our new Energy & Mobility business area,” says Martin Everts, Managing Director of AMAG Energy & Mobility. “Meyer Burger is the perfect partner because most of the product and technology development takes place in Switzerland.” Under Energy & Mobility, the AMAG Group bundles its activities relating to energy generation using photovoltaics with Helion, charging solutions from Volton and Clyde, the ecosystem for electric mobility. In expanding this business area, the AMAG Group is relying on partnerships with other Swiss companies to increase local value chains. 

First orders secured

Helion's parent company AMAG Group AG is among the first customers for the new offering. As part of its climate strategy, the AMAG Group will build around 75,000 m² of solar installations at its own sites by 2025. The plants yet to be built are to be preferably and where possible, equipped with solar panels from Meyer Burger. Helmut Ruhl, CEO of the AMAG Group: “I am very pleased that with Helion and Meyer Burger, two Swiss companies are contributing to the diversification of energy supply and the rebuilding of the Swiss and European solar industry. We are now making concrete use of Meyer Burger's modules in the construction of the new AMAG Academy. Once the Academy opens next May, 10,000 employees in the AMAG Group's trading and service network will be trained annually in Lupfig. The partnership with Meyer Burger is a further step on our way to becoming the leading provider of sustainable individual mobility because we want to increasingly produce the electricity for the electric cars we sell ourselves together with partners.”

In collaboration with the AMAG Academy, Helion Energy AG has also been operating an academy since this summer, where it trains and develops its employees in the area of photovoltaic installations, now also on Meyer Burger modules. In 2024, the first solar installer and solar mechanic apprentices will start their training at Helion Energy AG as part of a new apprenticeship program. This means that more than 800 apprentices will be starting their careers with the AMAG Group.

Media contact

Meyer Burger Technology AG 
Anne Schneider 
Head Corporate Communications 
M. +49 174 349 17 90 
anne.schneider@meyerburger.com  

About Meyer Burger Technology AG

www.meyerburger.com

Meyer Burger has started production of high-performance solar cells and solar modules in 2021. Its proprietary heterojunction/SmartWire technology enables the company to set new industry standards in terms of energy yield. With solar cells and modules developed in Switzerland and manufactured in Germany according to high sustainability standards, Meyer Burger aims to become a leading European photovoltaic company. The company currently employs around 1300 people at research facilities in Switzerland, development and manufacturing sites in Germany and sales offices in Europe, the United States, Australia and Asia.

Meyer Burger was founded in 1953 in Switzerland. As a provider of production systems, the company has shaped the development of the global photovoltaic industry along the entire value chain in recent decades and has set essential industry standards. A large part of the solar modules produced worldwide today are based on technologies developed by Meyer Burger.

The registered shares of Meyer Burger Technology AG are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker: MBTN).