Germany’s SolarWorld Starts Bankruptcy Proceedings (Again)

Just months after Germany’s SolarWorld AG was resurrected as SolarWorld Industries GmbH, the new company has filed for bankruptcy.

The notice of bankruptcy proceedings was filed on the 27th of March (local time).

Germany’s public international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, reports the company cited a drop in revenues due to falling prices of solar panels as a reason for the move.

In May last year, SolarWorld AG announced it would file for insolvency proceedings. Then in in August, an agreement was inked for the purchase and transfer of SolarWorld AG, SolarWorld Industries Sachsen GmbH, SolarWorld Innovations GmbH and SolarWorld Industries Thüringen GmbH by a new company, SolarWorld Industries GmbH.

The founder and managing director of SolarWorld Industries GmbH is Dr. Frank Asbeck, who was also founder and CEO of SolarWorld AG. This time around, Dr. Asbeck was joined by other investors, including the Qatar Foundation.

SolarWorld Americas was not a part of that deal and is currently doing its own thing.

The SolarWorld saga to that point makes for an interesting read – SQ’s Ronald covered it in more detail here.

SolarWorld recently added its name to the list of solar panel manufacturers lining up for an exclusion from U.S. punitive duties on imported modules and cells. This raised a few eyebrows as the Solar Products Safeguard Measure was the end result of a petition joined by SolarWorld Americas, Inc. –  at that point a subsidiary of SolarWorld AG – for duties to be put in place.

SolarWorld has also been battling increasing headwinds at home created by cheaper imports. In September last year, the EU announced it would implement a progressive reduction in the minimum prices Chinese solar panel makers could sell their wares for in Europe, which was to occur in three stages; the first on October 1, 2017 and the last on July 1 this year.

“With this, the company is reacting, among other things, on further decreased market prices and European Commission’s intention to terminate measures against dumped solar imports from China,” SolarWorld Industries is reported to have stated.

Will SolarWorld again rise like a phoenix from the ashes of …SolarWorld? Stay tuned.

PV Tech reports provisional insolvency administrator, Dr. Christoph Niering from Niering Stock Tömp Rechtsanwälte, says an attempt will be made to find a working solution to keep SolarWorld Industries’ business and production facilities operating.