Germany

IHS Senior Research Director Ash Sharma spoke to pv magazine to give his take on the SolarWorld and Hemlock Semiconductor initial ruling last week, and how the two companies are likely to proceed from here, expecting that SolarWorld is feeling the pressure to come to an agreement quickly.

The U.S. court adjudicating on the legal dispute between SolarWorld subsidiary Deutsche Solar and Hemlock Semiconductor has granted a motion for a summary judgment, dismissing SolarWorld’s submission for the case to be heard by a jury. The dispute stems from three multi-year polysilicon supply deals negotiated and signed between 2005 and 2007. SolarWorld argues that it is not beholden to these supply deals as they were subsequently amended by the two parties.

The court document from the dramatic initial ruling in the SolarWorld and Hemlock Semiconductor polysilicon dispute reveals that Hemlock was willing to negotiate amendments to the polysilicon Supply Agreements with SolarWorld subsidiary Deutsche Solar, if the German company assisted in resolving a dispute “between the US and China over the exchange of solar-industry products.”

The German PV group says it is optimistic that Hemlock will not succeed in actually enforcing any claims against it in Germany, arguing that the disputed silicon supply contract at the center of the legal dispute violates EU antitrust law.