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Belectric takes Konarka GmbH over

Germany-based Belectric has taken the insolvent Konarka GmbH over. The announcement marks the company’s entrance into the organic photovoltaic market.

Belectric will continue Konarka's organic photovoltaic work under the name Belectric OPV GmbH.

Konarka

Photovoltaic systems integrator, Belectric announced today in a statement that an agreement between the two parties has been reached, following Konarka’s negotiations with several interested investors.

Alexander Kubusch, preliminary insolvency administrator for Konarka GmbH commented, "Of the many interested parties, we ultimately opted for Belectric Holding GmbH, because this company not only offered an ideal solution to the issue of business operations, but also went a long way toward upholding the interests of creditors. We have therefore managed to secure excellent future prospects both for the employees that had been affected by the insolvency and for the company’s clients and partners."

Belectric intends to continue Konarka’s work in organic photovoltaics including R&D, production and distribution under the name Belectric OPV GmbH, which will be headed by CEO, Ralph Pätzold. The first phase, said the statement, expects to see an increase of the service life of the organic cells. The first revenue is expected to be generated in the second half of next year.

"We will use Power Plastic wherever conventional modules aren’t a suitable solution. Particularly in facade construction and in the automotive sector, the highly flexible and pliable material can be used in a variety of ways to save energy cost-effectively. And we have already received some inquiries from the consumer segment, where there is also great interest in the product," continued Belectric CFO, Michael Belschak.

No more details were immediately released.

At the start of July, Konarka GmbH filed for insolvency, just a month after its U.S. parent company, Konarka Technologies Inc. announced it had filed for bankruptcy protection under chapter 7 of the U.S. Federal bankruptcy laws.

Despite its organic photovoltaic modules having a power conversion efficiency of less than 2.5%, the U.S. parent company managed to raise, on average, US$18 million a year in funding since it was set up in 2001 by scientists from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.