Bosch Solar Energy AG was a German solar wafer and solar cell manufacturer, based in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

, which specialized in crystalline silicon-based

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...

(PV) products, as well as thin-film modules using amorphous silicon and CIGS absorber materials. The company consisted of various divisions for silicon, wafers, solar cells and modules, research and production facilities in Germany and France and plans were made to open a production line in Malaysia. It has been listed on the German stock exchange since 30 September 2005 and on 19 December 2005 its shares were admitted to the TecDAX. The enterprise was founded in 1997 as ErSol Solarstrom GmbH & Co. KG. In 2013,

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch and stylized as BOSCH, is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosch is 9 ...

announced that it will exit from the solar business. SolarWorld took over production in

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town ...

and continued to employ about 800 workers. The parent company also sold its shares of

Aleo Solar Aleo Solar GmbH produces and distributes solar modules and systems. It was founded in 2001. Its plant in Prenzlau, Germany, provided the company with an annual production capacity of 280 megawatts by 2015. Company The company was founded in 200 ...

History

Timeline: * March 1997 : Formation of a company as Ersol Solarstrom GmbH & Co. KG * September 2005 : Initial public offer * June 2008 :

becomes majority shareholder * March 2009 : Groundbreaking for a new production facility in Arnstadt * September 2009 : Change of name to Bosch Solar Energy AG * November 2009 : Takeover of: aleo Solar AG (68,7% majority shareholding) and Johanna Solar Technologie GmbH (> 60% majority shareholding) * March 2013 : Robert Bosch GmbH announced, the company will exit its solar business and sell or shut down all of these operations. * May 2016 : Bosch Solar Energy AG was deleted from the German commercial register. The company's legal form was changed to "Bosch Solar Services GmbH", based in Arnstadt, Germany, a service company for solar product-related services that no longer operates any manufacturing facilities itself.

Structure and products

Bosch Solar Energy is subdivided into four different divisions according to product groups. The various subsidiaries are responsible for these divisions: *''SRS Silicon Recycling Services'' The Bosch Solar Energy subsidiary SRS Silicon Recycling Services, Inc., specializes in the recycling of silicon. The scope of the ersol Group subsidiary currently covers silicon for solar and semiconductor applications, metallurgical grade silicon and support products. All grades of silicon. *''Bosch Solar Wafers'' Bosch Solar Wafers GmbH is a specialist manufacturer of monocrystalline ingots and wafers. The Bosch Solar Energy subsidiary currently produces the following products: ** Monocrystalline silicon ingots :: (p- and n-type) ** Monocrystalline silicon wafers :: (p- and n-type) ** Crystals and wafers with special twin structures. *''Solar Cells'' produces solar cells in the format 156 mm x 156 mm and is the core business sector. At a thickness of 200 µm and less, the average efficiency of monocrystalline ersol solar cells is around 17%. The share of production dedicated to higher-grade monocrystalline cells compared to

multicrystalline A crystallite is a small or even microscopic crystal which forms, for example, during the cooling of many materials. Crystallites are also referred to as grains. Bacillite is a type of crystallite. It is rodlike with parallel longulites. Stru ...

solar cells is increasing and currently stands at about 80%. The parent company Bosch Solar Energy AG is responsible for production at its plants in Erfurt and Arnstadt. *''Bosch Solar Modules'' is accountable for all group activities relating to the production and sale of

solar modules A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

. The division incorporates Erfurt-based Bosch Solar Thin Film GmbH, which is devoted to the production of thin-film solar modules and achieves significant savings in the raw material silicon with the aid of thin-film technology. In addition, ersol markets crystalline solar modules from solar cells produced by ersol and other manufacturers through its Erfurt-based trading subsidiary Bosch Solar Modules GmbH. The division also has a crystalline module production line at the planning stage.

Management board

The management board of Bosch Solar Energy AG consists of four members: *Holger von Hebel,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(responsibilities: Corporate Development, Finance/Controlling, Human Resources, Corporate Communications, IT, Legal Affairs and Post Merger Integration) *Dr. Volker Nadenau, CTO (responsibilities: Research & Development, Process Development and Photovoltaic Strategy) *Jürgen Pressl, COO (responsibilities: Manufacture of Ingots, Wafers, Solar Cells, Crystalline and Thin-film Solar Modules, Purchasing/Supply Chain Management) *Peter Schneidewind, CSO (responsibilities: Sales, Marketing and Product Management)

Notes

External links

Corporate website of Bosch Solar Energy AGBosch to acquire 51 percent stake in ersolSolar Energy Services
{{Bosch Technology companies of Germany Thin-film cell manufacturers Manufacturing companies of Germany Manufacturing companies established in 1997 Renewable resource companies established in 1997 Technology companies established in 1997 Erfurt German companies established in 1997