Plans are underway for a Meyer Burger Solar Plant, which will be established at Goodyear Airport 85 industrial park in Arizona. The Switzerland-based Meyer Burger Technology intends on building its first manufacturing facility for producing high-performance solar modules in the US and has signed a lease for a recently completed 276,000-square-foot speculative building, which is situated at 1685 S. Litchfield Road.
Meyer Burger will build out its newly acquired speculative building to suit custom requirements of the new production site. The company said the initial production capacity of its new Meyer Burger Solar Plant will be 400 megawatts and the new facility will produce solar modules designed for residential and commercial uses, for industrial rooftops and utility-scale applications.
Also Read Proposed Goodyear Airpark Industrial Facility to be developed in Arizona
Meyer Burger Solar Plant to bring over 500 manufacturing jobs
The developers expect the new Meyer Burger Solar Plant to be operational by year’s ending, with an initial 250 manufacturing jobs. The company also mentioned that the number of manufacturing jobs provided at the facility would later increase to more than 500 and the facility would also have a 1.5 gigawatt full production capacity, at its final stage of expansion.
Meyer Burger is yet to receive any incentives for its new Meyer Burger Solar Plant development from the state, but the company is eligible to receive funding through a performance based program, called the Qualified Facility and Quality Jobs Tax Credit. In view of Meyer Burger’s project parameters, the maximum amount of funding they are eligible for under this ACA financial program is $11 million.
The European company decided on Arizona as the location for its new Meyer Burger Solar Plant development, due to the state’s “diversified and talented” workforce which would provide support for its production, and the close proximity of its customer base within the vicinity. Meyer Burger also mentioned that it was committed to reducing transportation emissions and optimizing the carbon footprint of its solar modules.
The CEO of Meyer Burger, Gunter Erfurt, pointed out that the company’s goal was to match up to the global clean energy standards, and he said the company was working on proprietary heterojunction cell technology and patented SmartWire module technology. Erfurt said this technology was their key to manufacturing products of the highest quality and performance, which will make economically competitive solar components available for their customers.
