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Solarion and Walsin Lihwa sign €60 million thin film investment agreement

Germany-based Solarion AG and Taiwanese company Walsin Lihwa have signed a €60 million investment cooperation agreement to produce Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells.

The two companies signed the agreement yesterday in Leipzig. Image: Solarion AG.

The companies have also announced they will develop next generation solar energy technologies.

Under the agreement, Walsin Lihwa, via its wholly owned subsidiary Ally Energy Limited BVI, will invest €40 million in Solarion AG. As a result, it will acquire a 49 percent stake in Solarion and Solarion's CIGS technology patent licensing.

A further €20 million grant has been awarded from the Development Bank of Saxony.

As a first step, the two companies have said they will “pursue the quantity production” of CIGS thin film solar cells by setting up a solar cell and module plant next year in Leipzig, Germany.

Walsin Lihwa states that initial capacity will be 20 megawatts (MWs): capacity is expected to increase to 200 MW. Moreover, the company says that the patent licensing from Solarion will enable it to independently manufacture and sell CIGS solar products.

In a statement, Walsin Lihwa said: “The high power conversion efficiency of CIGS enables CIGS thin film cells to have the greatest development potential. Solarion AG's CIGS patents and the company's low-cost, high-performance competitiveness make the cooperation ideal for Walsin Lihwa's vertical integration strategy and help Walsin Lihwa obtain such patented key technologies in order to have a head start in independent solar energy R&D.”

According to Dieter Waffel, chairman of Solarion, the cooperation with Walsin Lihwa paves Solarion's way to mass production and help the development of CIGS products and technologies featuring an even lower cost and much higher power conversion efficiency.

The Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement, License Agreement and Technology Collaboration Agreement was signed yesterday (October 28) in Leipzig City Hall by Yu-Lon Chaio, chairman of Walsin Lihwa, and Dieter Waffel, chairman of Solarion AG. Sven Morlok, State Minister of Economic Affairs of Saxony, and Barkhard Jung, Mayor of Leipzig City also attended.