Swedish company Midsummer has named founder and former executive vice president Eric Jaremalm as its new CEO following the resignation of former CEO Sven Lindström. Established in 2004 by Jaremalm and Lindström, Midsummer aims to position itself as a solar cell manufacturer in Europe, despite concerns about the competitiveness of European solar manufacturing compared to the US and China.
Midsummer is currently in the process of constructing two cell manufacturing facilities in Europe—a 50MW factory in Italy and a 200MW factory in Sweden. Despite delays in its manufacturing projects, the company's board of directors is optimistic about Jaremalm's elevation to the CEO position, anticipating that it will contribute to the company's ongoing momentum.
Robert Sjöström, Chairman of the Board, stated, “The board believes that Jaremalm contributes with great experience from the company, technical know-how, and international sales work. In his various roles in the company, he has shown the ability to focus, prioritize, and deliver, which is and will be of great importance for the work going forward.”
While facing delays in its manufacturing projects, Midsummer is prioritizing the commencement of automated production at its Italian factory, initially announced in November 2021. The company has pushed back its proposed start date to the first quarter of this year. Midsummer has already inked an agreement to deliver 303MW of panels between 2023 and 2027 to “one of Europe's leading producers and suppliers of waterproofing products and services.”
The second factory in Sweden, supported by a grant of over €32 million from the European Commission, will produce copper indium gallium selenide solar cells. Commercial production at this facility is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026, with plans to scale up production to over 1GW by the end of the decade.
