ermany’s Inventux Technologies, a recent start-up in the solar sector, may not be a household name, but it soon could be. The Berlin-based firm is on a fast track with significant short- and long-range expansion plans. Last December, Inventux launched full-scale production of micromorph solar modules, a first for Europe.
      Using technology developed by Oerlikon Solar, Inventux is producing solar modules which it says have improved efficiency and will make solar power competitive with traditional energy sources.
      Volko Lowenstein, Inventux’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, recently discussed his company’s plans with Site Selection during an exclusive interview in Berlin. Lowenstein, who previously headed the solar department at Shuco, a developer of solar thermal systems, is passionate about the solar industry and equally so about Berlin. His biggest challenge is securing funding for the company’s planned expansion.
      “We are hard-working and every day we become better,” Lowenstein says. “We have had to struggle, but we have been quite successful.”
      Keen to go to market rapidly, Lowenstein and his team found the ready-made manufacturing space it needed in a building formerly occupied by transportation systems specialist Bombardier. Inventux has plans to expand with two new lines to be built in a new facility in the new Clean Tech Business Park Berlin-Marzahn, which is an expansion of the Berlin Eastside Business Park, home to the company’s current facility. Lowenstein says the new lines will be more efficient than the company’s first line.
      “We have opportunities to make our process better,” he says. “This will not be a copy and paste.”
      Lowenstein says that in addition to the availability of an existing manufacturing site, Inventux selected Berlin over other potential locations in the former East Germany because of its supply of talented university graduates and the presence of solar research institutions such as the Hahn-Meitner Institute at nearby Berlin Adlershof, Berlin’s largest science and technology park. The rich cultural amenities available in Berlin are another big attraction, he says.
      “One of the exciting things here has been that it has been very easy to get well-trained people,” Lowenstein says. “It’s a city of young people that has more than 100,000 university students. No city in Germany can offer such good scientific infrastructure as Berlin. Also, expenses are much lower here than in Stuttgart, Munich or Hamburg. People living in Berlin have a choice of different lifestyles and there are more opportunities. The Berlin lifestyle appeals to young people from all over. But at the end of the day, the product we make is much better. We are competitive and better at efficiency. We are sold out and that is the most important thing.”
      Rene Gurka, managing director of the Berlin Partner organization which recruited Inventux, says Inventux is a great addition to Berlin’s growing solar industry.
      “I knew their top people for many years before they even founded Inventux,” Gurka says. “When they decided to actually found their own company, they had some issues to have solved. They wanted an attractive location to have a chance to attract the best people,” Gurka says. “If they went to other East Germany states, it would not be as easy to attract technicians and researchers. They also wanted to be close to R&D facilities so they could outsource some work.
      “Another area we need to fulfill is on the incentives side,” Gurka says. “We needed to at least match the offers from other states. In Berlin we are able to offer a science grant for only the R&D part of their business. Companies can get subsidies for R&D work for up to half of their investment over a certain period of time. Even though we have a little less incentives available than some states, we can match that by getting subsidies for R&D work.”
      Most of Inventux’s sales are currently in Germany with the remainder in Europe. Lowenstein projects sales to grow across Europe. Inventux has 6,000 customers in Germany alone. These are primarily customers doing roofing system installations ranging from 10 KW to 500 KW.
      “The German solar market is the best educated market in Europe,” Lowenstein says. “Our customers are really quality focused.”
      After the Berlin expansion, Inventux will likely turn its eyes to the U.S., Lowenstein says, with the idea of locating a fab in a sunny state such as California, Arizona or New Mexico.
      “The U.S. has so much opportunity for renewable energy. There are 300 million people with the highest income in the world and a big sun belt.”