Bourgoin-Jallieu, September 19, 2024 – CARBON and EDF Renouvelables have reached a draft agreement on the sale of the company Photowatt, a historic industrial player in the manufacture of photovoltaic panels. According to this agreement, Photowatt would be integrated into the industrial project led by CARBON and would thus be part of the dynamic development in France of a sovereign, sustainable and competitive solar sector.
CARBON wants to make Photowatt a key building block in its industrial project, complementary and ahead of its gigafactory in Fos-sur-Mer, which will be commissioned at the end of 2026. CARBON's project to take over Photowatt includes a major investment plan of €40 million with the creation of a photovoltaic module production unit with a capacity of 500 MWc, the equivalent of one million solar panels per year. Commissioning is planned before the end of 2025. The project plans to maintain jobs at the Bourgoin-Jallieu site and increase their number to 200 by 2026.
This production unit would allow CARBON to accelerate its commercial presence and meet the increase in demand for photovoltaic panels. Made in France, particularly in the dynamic residential solar market. It would also have a pilot function, allowing the testing, testing and optimization of module production processes (automation, robotization, digitalization, etc.).
“We would be extremely proud to welcome Photowatt and all its teams into the CARBON family” says Pierre-Emmanuel MARTIN, President and Co-founder of CARBON. "Photowatt is a pioneering company for photovoltaics on a global scale, created 45 years ago. Its integration into CARBON would allow us to associate it with the most important and advanced project for the renewal of the industrial solar sector in Europe."
Nicolas Chandellier, Managing Director of CARBON, adds : "We are going to invest to transform the existing industrial tool, located in Bourgoin-Jallieu, and to permanently integrate it into CARBON's activity. The objective is to capitalize on a name, a history and skills that are unique in Europe to accelerate the implementation of CARBON."
EDF Renouvelables, owner of Photowatt since its takeover in 2012, had been looking for several months for an industrial partner with an ambitious, credible and coherent project for the company in order to promote the know-how of its 170 employees. Thanks to this draft agreement, CARBON and EDF are positioning Photowatt as a central pillar of the industrial development of photovoltaics in France. The EDF Group is committing to CARBON on an agreement for the supply of photovoltaic panels in order to support this new production Made in France. " EDF Renewables considers that the Photowatt takeover project proposed by Carbon would be likely to give new impetus to Photowatt, sustain the company's activity and secure jobs on the site," says Bruno Fyot, Deputy CEO of EDF Renewables.
The process of informing and consulting staff representative bodies is underway.
About CARBON
CARBON builds the European leader in the photovoltaic industry. The company carries the the most important and most advanced project on a European scale for the renewal of this industrial sector, in terms of scale (with a production volume of 5 GWc) and vertical integration (ingot, wafer, cell, module). CARBON will produce 100% French solar panels, efficient, reliable and very low carbon thanks to a sovereign, sustainable and competitive industrial project.
CARBON’s industrial architecture includes 3 building blocks:
- A gigafactory 5 GWc of production capacity located in Fos-sur-Mer (13), which will integrate all manufacturing stages and will be commissioned at the end of 2026,
- A 500 MWc module production unit, based in Photowatt in Bourgoin-Jallieu (38), which will be a 1e industrial brick, ahead of schedule, with commissioning at the end of 2025,
- A center of innovation and excellence, CARBON Lab, in Istres (13), to host R&D and training activities from 2027.
CARBON is supported by France 2030, the Sud – Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur Region and the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis.
For more information: carbon-solar.com