Bosch Solar Energy AG was a German

solar wafer In electronics, a wafer (also called a slice or substrate) is a thin slice of semiconductor, such as a crystalline silicon (c-Si, silicium), used for the fabrication of integrated circuits and, in photovoltaics, to manufacture solar cells. The ...

and

solar cell A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.

manufacturer, based in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, which specialized in

crystalline silicon Crystalline silicon or (c-Si) is the crystalline forms of silicon, either polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si, consisting of small crystals), or monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si, a continuous crystal). Crystalline silicon is the dominant semicon ...

-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 ...

(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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and plans were made to open a production line in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. 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 TecDAX stock index tracks the performance of the 30 largest German companies from the technology sector. In terms of order book turnover and market capitalization the companies rank below those included in the DAX. The TecDax was introduced ...

. The enterprise was founded in 1997 as ErSol Solarstrom GmbH & Co. KG. In 2013,

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (styled BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 188 ...

announced that it will exit from the solar business.

SolarWorld SolarWorld is a German company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of photovoltaic products worldwide by integrating all components of the solar value chain, from feedstock (polysilicon) to module production, from trade with solar panels ...

took over production in

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (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 ...

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

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 cell A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.

s 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

monocrystal In materials science, a single crystal (or single-crystal solid or monocrystalline solid) is a material in which the crystal lattice of the entire sample is continuous and unbroken to the edges of the sample, with no Grain boundary, grain bound ...

line ersol solar cells is around 17%. The share of production dedicated to higher-grade monocrystalline cells compared to multicrystalline 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 panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

. 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 chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(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 Companies based in Erfurt German companies established in 1997