British perovskite solar company Oxford PV has signed a licensing agreement with US cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film module manufacturer First Solar.
The non-exclusive patent license gives First Solar access to Oxford PV’s existing and currently pending technology patents in the US. The company said the license covers “the potential manufacturing and distribution” of perovskite products in the US and excludes crystalline silicon semiconductors.
Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, said the license would allow the company to “continue to pursue viable routes for the production and commercialization of thin-film perovskite products,” and that it “reflects the confidence we have in our R&D products.” [research and development] The team’s progress in developing an efficient, stable and manufacturable perovskite device.”
First Solar said it had invested $2 billion in thin-film research and development, including a “focus” on perovskites. This includes a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg, Ohio facility, which it says produces “small form factor modules with a perovskite semiconductor” to support the company’s work in the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar products.
Oxford PV has become one of the leading companies in the silicon-perovskite tandem solar industry. The company said it shipped the order first commercial perovskite tandem solar panels to an unnamed US customer in September 2024, and has since re-signed an exclusive agreement patent licensing agreement with Chinese solar energy giant Trinasolar for the production of perovskite products in China.
“Strong intellectual property frameworks are essential to supporting innovation at scale in the solar industry,” said David Ward, CEO of Oxford PV. “Agreements like this, which build on previous industry validation, reflect the growing confidence in perovskite-based solar photovoltaics – the next generation of solar technology we have been developing for more than a decade – and support its advancement in the US market.”
The full version of this article is available on our sister sitePV Tech.
