Columbus wants to sell Saule technologies to the government. Opportunity or trap?

• Olga Malinkiewicz, co-founder and former board member of Saule Technologies, appealed to Prime Minister Donald Tusk to intervene in the matter of protecting Saule's perovskite cell technology from being sold abroad.
• Perovskites are flexible, lightweight, ultrathin, and semi-transparent solar cells. Saule Technologies argues that current work on perovskite cells is in the very early stages of development.
• Dawid Zieliński, president of Columbus, estimates that Saule Technologies received over PLN 270 million – including over PLN 100 million from private investors (Columbus, the Polish company DC24, and the Japanese group HIS) and the remainder from public funds.

The invitation was sent to the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the Minister of Energy, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Development and Technology and the President of the Polish Armaments Group.

A stable future and harnessing the potential of perovskites

"This invitation was submitted in connection with the ongoing efforts to streamline the situation within the Saule Technologies Group to ensure a stable future for the project, as well as due to the potential of perovskite technology, including its use in the defense industry, the current needs of Poland, and the limited capabilities of Columbus and its partners to ensure this technology reaches the necessary scale of development. The proposed transaction assumptions include the purchase by public institutions of shares in Saule SA from Saule Technologies SA or a different transaction structure," Columbus wrote in a statement.

In the opinion of the Columbus management board , the addressees of the appeal have the competence to be interested in the perovskite technology developed by Saule SA and consider including it, for example, in the Polish Armaments Group or the Łukasiewicz Research Network, and the continuation of research work with the participation of the experienced and ready Saule SA team is an opportunity for Polish scientists to implement further innovations into practical solutions.

Moreover, the ownership dispute surrounding the Saule Technologies group is, in the opinion of the Columbus management board, a barrier preventing the development of this project , which can be resolved by involving state institutions in the project.

Columbus management indicates that the parameters of a possible transaction will be subject to negotiations between the interested parties.

Nearly PLN 270 million was invested in Saule

As a reminder, Saul was working on perovskites, flexible, lightweight, ultrathin, and semi-transparent solar cells. They were intended to be a much cheaper alternative to traditional photovoltaic panels.

Saule Technologies' technological and business plans have not yet materialized, and instead we have a conflict between former business partners and shareholders of Saule Technologies.

Dawid Zieliński, CEO of Columbus Energy, estimates that the company has received over PLN 270 million, including over PLN 100 million from private investors (Columbus, the Polish company DC24, and the Japanese group HIS) and the remainder from public funds. This funding was intended to enable the launch of commercial production.

Dawid Zieliński argues that the facility in Wrocław is not a factory, but a pilot installation, operating on a limited scale, without automation, and without the possibility of launching mass production.