Lamination days and trade shows in Shanghai and Stuttgart reveal: Demand is increasing

At the photovoltaic fairs in China and Germany, Robert Bürkle GmbH presented its extended product portfolio. At the same time, its system manufacturer showed the first single-opening laminator – e.a.sy-Lam – at their Shanghai factory; it had been manufactured in China using German engineering. Moreover, Bürkle had used it to successfully enter the US market.

While masses of visitors streamed through the fair halls at the international PV trade show, SNEC, more than 50 experts benefited from the opportunity to have themselves driven to the nearby Bürkle site in Shanghai. There, they saw a new single-opening laminator during a live demonstration. With its first line produced in Asia with German technology, Bürkle aims to establish itself versus local laminator suppliers and participate in the growth of the PV industry in China.

Company manager Hans Joachim Bender sees the situation in Asia as a positive one. "We assume that the Chinese photovoltaics market will show enormous growth in the future. As such, we have expanded our location in Shanghai with an additional assembly site, complete with 3000 m² of floor spce," he said. In addition, the engineer's evaluation was encouraged by the positive feedback from visitors at Bürkle's Lamination Days, some of whom were very impressed by the German-Chinese line and placed concrete enquiries with the machine supplier in the Swabian Freudenstadt.

The Photon congress and exhibition that took place in Stuttgart at the end of April also showed the growing demand for Bürkle lines in the PV sector. More than 60 interested parties visited the Bürkle booth to learn about the novel backend concept for crystalline modules. During the fair, Bürkle was pleased to receive two orders for its multi-opening laminator, Ypsator. With an additional order from the USA for an Ypsator Lamination Line, the system supplier also managed to break through into the future market of America. Amongst other reasons, the high capacity of the machine having a small footprint was crucial.

After a year of crisis in 2009 and with a decrease in sales of around one third, Bürkle expects a substantial growth this year. A group of companies with factories in Freudenstadt, Mastholte, Paderborn, Shanghai and Hangzhou - as well as sales and service companies in the US, Hong Kong, Poland, Slovakia, Taiwan and Brazil, it holds plans to grow by 30 percent. Being a pioneer in the development and manufacturing of multi-opening laminators, Bürkle  is the top machine manufacturer in the solar market with its Ypsator brand.

Indeed, companies such as Solarwatt, Q-Cells, Bosch, Day4Energy, Scheuten Solar and others have all ordered more than 50 single-opening and multi-opening laminators since the market launch at the end of 2007. Currently, more than 680 staff members are employed worldwide with Bürkle.

Biography

André Harter entered Robert Bürkle GmbH in 2001. After an industrial manager apprenticeship, Harter studied International Business Administration at the Berufsakademie in Villingen-Schwenningen. Since September 2007 he has been responsible for the marketing of all the market segments Bürkle serves (woodworking, plastic card, multilayer and the photovoltaic industry).