Citing on-going problems in the solar industry – which has fallen victim to plummeting unit prices and European subsidy cuts – the company is also planning to slash the current workforce numbers by 50%. This would leave approximately 60 employees at the plant.

Sunways Production, a subsidiary of Sunways Group, based in Konstanz, said it is “not in a position to operate profitably”.

“Therefore, the management board, with the consent of the supervisory board, today decided to significantly reduce the production and development activities of Sunways Production GmbH until at least a breakeven situation can be achieved again,” the company said in a statement.

Furthermore, the company has decided to reduce the number of employees across all locations at the parent company Sunways AG, and to restructure production to “accommodate the present market environment”.

According to the board’s current plans, the 265 employees of the Sunways Group might be reduced by 40%. Talks will be initiated shortly with workers’ groups within Sunways AG in Konstanz and Sunways Production in Arnstadt.

Sunway is just the latest company to fall victim to the current poor conditions for solar operators. The past 18 months have seen a number of companies in Germany and US fail, including Solarhybrid, Q-Cells, and Solar Millennium.