26 June 2012

Global Solar Energy’s German subsidiary applies for insolvency

Global Solar Energy Inc of Tucson, AZ, USA, which makes flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic cells and modules, says that - since it is consolidating operations and focusing on growth segments through its 40MWp factory in Tucson - its German executive team has applied for insolvency proceedings at subsidiary Global Solar Energy Deutschland GmbH (GSED).

GSED’s operations focused exclusively on the PowerFLEX product line. Global Solar says that it will continue to produce all product lines at its Tucson factory which, under current market conditions, has sufficient capacity to meet demand. As a result of the GSED actions, the firm will no longer operate its 35MWp production facilities in Berlin, Germany.

“The EU renewables market is financially challenging due to high inventories, collapsing prices and significant reductions to European feed-in-tariffs,” says CEO Dr Jeffrey Britt. “As a result of this difficult operating environment, a strategic decision has been made to plan and execute an EU capacity reduction and focus investment on the products and technology necessary to meet our customer's needs and fulfill our business plan,” he adds. Global Solar will continue to honor all its warranty obligations and service European customers, but from its Tucson facilities.

“While unfortunate, the Berlin facility shutdown provides an opportunity to address financial structure issues, appropriately scale production capabilities and align with growing markets in Asia, the Middle East and North America,” continues Britt.

Global Solar sells its products into specific applications such as weight-restricted roofs, integrated building products, military markets and various emerging applications. It currently supplies interconnected solar cells for the DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle roofing product line.

With these strategic changes put into effect, Global Solar will also continue with its efforts (announced on 7 June) to pursue new investor participation, being led by FTI Capital Advisors LLC (FTICA) – a member of securities regulator FINRA/SIPC  (the investment banking subsidiary of FTI Consulting Inc).

See related items:

Flexible CIGS PV maker Global Solar Energy seeking investors

Global Solar Energy seeks buyer for Portable Solar business

Tags: Global Solar Energy CIGS BIPV

Visit: www.globalsolar.com