Oxford PV and Meyer Burger falling out threatens Europe’s solar industry

Two of Europe’s leading perovskite solar cell technology companies are on the verge of a bruising legal battle that could hold back production of solar panel in the region.

Perovskite pioneer Oxford PV has completed its tandem solar cell manufacturing site in Germany and at the same time terminated its deal with its major shareholder and equipment supplier, Meyer Burger.

的Oxford PV factory in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, is the first volume manufacturing line for high efficiency, low cost perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells and the company plans annual manufacturing capacity of 100 MW with full production starting in 2022.

As part of the development, the company signed a strategic, exclusive deal with Swiss technology developer Meyer Burger for manufacturing equipment in 2019. However, since then Meyer Burger has changed direction and has also built a plant for solar cell production that opened last week.

This potential conflict was highlighted back in May 2020 when Meyer Burger cancelled deals with other module makers that used its equipment. The completion of the factory has led to Oxford PV unilaterally terminating the deal with a terse one line statement. Meyer Burger says it is exploring its legal options and points out it is the largest single shareholder of Oxford PV with a share of 19.76 percent.

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