The Executive Board of Sunfilm AG has filed for insolvency at the district court in Dresden, Germany. According to the company, the current market conditions and feed-in tariff discussions in Germany hit Sunfilm at an already difficult stage of its market entry. The shareholders have stopped their financial support. The Executive Board is continuing its discussions with the banks about securing the future of the company.
Wolfgang Heinze, Chairman of the Executive Board of Sunfilm AG, summarized the current situation: "By filing for insolvency we are aiming for a strategic realignment of the company with a new investor. Our high-performance products, the state-of-the-art production lines in combination with an above-average market- and growth potential of our technology and the competence of our employees form a very solid basis for this. We regret the current development and want to express our thanks for the support we have received so far. We will use all our efforts to lead the company into a successful future."
SunFab certified its thin-film tandem-junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) line in April 2009 and ramped to volume production in June 2009, citing efficiencies of up to 8%. However, the company was at the center of a conflict between AMAT and Oerlikon – in May of 2009 the EU Patent Office invalidated a patent from the U. of Neuchatel related to amorphous silicon PV technology licensed to Oerlikon, and the crux of a suit against Sunfilm (and other module makers).
