Oxford PV CEO David Ward spoke to pv magazine about the prospects of his company and Perovksite-silicon tandem PV technology at the WFES event in Abu Dhabi. He said Oxford PV is expanding production outside Germany while focusing on global licensing partnerships.
Germany-based perovskite solar specialist Oxford PV plans to bring its perovskite-silicon tandem solar products to mass production in 2028, driven primarily by improvements in tandem reliability and continued gains in energy conversion efficiency.
“We are targeting a 1% annual increase in module efficiency through 2032,” said David Ward, CEO of Oxford PV. pv magazine in an interview at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) this week in Abu Dhabi, UAE. “Currently our modules have an efficiency of 24%. Next year we plan to reach an efficiency of 25% with a lifespan of 10 years, while in 2027 we expect an efficiency of 26% and a lifespan of 15 years. By 2028 we target an efficiency of 27% and a lifespan of 20 years.”
Ward said a 20-year lifespan will be critical to the commercialization of tandem products. “Developers are not looking at 40 years; they are more concerned about the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). As long as the price premium is offset by higher energy production and the LCOE is lower, interest rates will rise significantly,” he said.
Oxford PV is evaluating several locations for future production facilities in addition to the existing factory in Brandenburg an der Havel, East Germany. “We are very pleased with our production site in Brandenburg, where we produce pilot products for the utility and commercial and industrial markets, as well as specialty products for non-terrestrial applications,” said Ward. “We are also looking for the right locations for a handful of additional facilities and aim to start production at a new location in late 2027 or early 2028.”
The Middle East, the United States and Europe are being considered. “As for China, we already have a clear strategy: we are working with Trina Solar for licensing in the region,” Ward said, referring to the exclusive licensing agreement signed in April. “We are unlikely to do any production there ourselves as Trina and its sublicensees will.”
Oxford PV’s cell technology will be used primarily for the production of top cells for tandem architectures. “Our company focuses on tandem products rather than single-junction perovskite,” Ward said. “This means that we will source the bottom silicon cells for our tandem products from external suppliers. We can use either TOPCon or heterojunction cells (HJT) as we are quite agnostic about silicon technology. However, initially we would probably prefer HJT as we have more in-house experience with it. That said, moving to TOPCon would not be a major challenge.”
Ward added that more public data from perovskite solar test fields could be released this year, which could help build confidence among investors and stakeholders. “I expect 2026 to be a year not only of development with customers, but also of increased licensing activity that we will be able to discuss publicly. The incoming interest we are seeing shows that the industry is actively working on perovskite-silicon tandems.”
As for pricing, Ward said the premium typically associated with new technologies may not be a major problem. “What really matters is achieving a lower LCOE,” he said. “There is nothing inherently expensive about the perovskite side of the cell. The materials are inexpensive and there are no critical or unusually expensive process steps. The vast majority of tandem cell costs still come from the silicon cell.”
Oxford PV unveiled its first perovskite-silicon tandem solar panel in June 2024 with an efficiency of 26.9%. A few months later, the company announced the commercial launch of perovksite silicon tandem modules in the United States.
It began developing its perovskite tandem solar panels in 2014 and claims to have a “clear roadmap” to take the technology to greater than 30% efficiency.
This content is copyrighted and may not be reused. If you would like to collaborate with us and reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
