Perovskite promise, management turmoil: Saule Technologies in crisis

A month after a managerial upheaval at Saule Technologies, the developer of ultra-thin, flexible perovskite-based solar cells, hopes of saving the company are fading. The firm had aimed to achieve a breakthrough in the photovoltaic industry. However, it failed to secure an investor and was further undermined by internal conflicts among its major shareholders.

As a result, on May 19, 2025, Olga Malinkiewicz – the technology’s creator, co-founder, and shareholder – was removed from Saule’s board. Control of the company was taken over by Columbus Energy, one of the principal shareholders, which pledged to take steps to “protect jobs and restore the company’s financial position in the hope of saving the perovskite technology.”

A few weeks after that announcement, the lights went out at Saule’s factory, located in the production and warehouse hall of the Wrocław Technology Park.

“At the Wrocław facility, power has already been cut, and staff are no longer showing up for work. The company itself faces a restructuring,” explains Michał Gondek, board member of Saule Technologies and vice president of Columbus Energy. “The technology could still be developed, provided someone acquires Saule’s organized business unit – including patents and machinery – and persuades the team to return and continue working on the project.”

The dawn of a major breakthrough

Immediately after Olga Malinkiewicz was removed from the board, Saule Technologies’ new management commissioned an analysis of the technology’s status in the context of the company’s development plan and potential future investments. The audit was conducted by the existing team of lead scientists who had been developing Saule’s perovskite-cell technology for years. The new management emphasizes that the team provided information “as it is, without manipulating the facts.”

It turned out, however, that the two sides of the conflict interpret the results very differently.

“The technology audit showed that we were living in an illusion. It became clear that we have only the beginnings of this major breakthrough. The reality is completely different from what Olga Malinkiewicz declared in official documents. For example, in 2022, Saule’s grant application to the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management stated that the company had production readiness of 40,000 sq. m of perovskite cells. In documents for investors, this figure was 3,000 sq. m. In reality, today it is less than 1,000 sq. m. Moreover, half of the work involved in producing them must be done manually. The audit revealed that the technology is at a much earlier stage and requires significantly more funds for development, and that Ms. Malinkiewicz misled the public, investors, and us,” asserts Michał Gondek.

Underestimated expenditures

According to Saule’s new management, the discrepancies run far deeper. Company plans had envisioned building a large factory with a capacity of 700,000 sq. m, which was estimated to cost EUR 20–25 million. The new leadership’s analysis, however, found that the project would actually require as much as EUR 250 million – around PLN 1.2 billion – and a decade to complete.

“This shows that Olga Malinkiewicz misled the company’s shareholders and investors. In the near future, we will file a report with the prosecutor’s office regarding the possibility that the previous management committed crimes related to the misappropriation of public funds and private investor money. It resembles the Elizabeth Holmes case in the U.S. There was a lot of enthusiasm from the inventor, but business naivety and manipulation of facts brought the company to a tragic state.

We also need to examine the company’s financial history and the allocation of budgets from investors and public funds. Over 50 percent of historical expenditures – nearly PLN 150 million – was not spent on research and development, production equipment, laboratories, or staff positions for scientists and engineers, but on unrelated matters, such as a lavish executive office in Warsaw. That is now a matter for the prosecutor. Time will show that treating public and investor money like pocket money from one’s parents cannot end well,” warns Michał Gondek.

The technology’s creator speaks of manipulation

Earlier, Olga Malinkiewicz sent a letter to the prosecutor’s office alleging that members of Columbus Energy’s management, as well as certain shareholders and supervisory board members of Saule, acted to the company’s detriment. She also insists that the results of the analysis conducted within the company are being misinterpreted by the new management.

The researcher emphasizes that the annual capacity declared in the grant application to the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) for the first-ever perovskite solar-cell production line in Wrocław – up to 40,000 sq. m – represented the theoretical maximum capacity of the line.

“After the factory was launched, it became clear that some of the machines were not operating according to the design and had to be modified. This is a normal situation in new technologies. Saule’s line capacity depends on the type of product for consumer electronics applications,” explains Ms. Malinkiewicz.

She also asserts that the DC24 fund and Columbus, who had lent Saule funds (with total debt to these entities reaching around PLN 80 million), were aware of this in advance.

“They did not suddenly learn this from the presentation they now call a so-called audit. It was not the line’s capacity but the functionality of Saule’s technology that was the key factor in granting funds from NFOŚiGW,” adds the researcher.

“This was not underestimation”

She also rejects allegations that she understated the funds needed to build a large solar-cell factory. Ms. Malinkiewicz explains that the technology’s development is planned in several stages. The next step is the first generation, which will achieve significantly higher efficiency than the current “generation zero.” This stage is expected to take five years. Another five years will be needed to implement the second generation of products with even greater efficiency. Only reaching this stage would require an investment of around EUR 250 million.

“This is an approximate internal cost estimate. It was not verified by any independent external audit and was never presented to potential investors. The discrepancies in estimates stem from deliberate manipulation of facts by Columbus and its CEO, Dawid Zieliński. They also result from his lack of proper familiarity with Saule’s technology and presenting one project as another. All the investment estimates I provided for building the factory were based on Saule’s first-generation technology,” Ms. Malinkiewicz emphasizes.

She also signals her intent to fight to regain control of the company.

“I am striving to restore control of the company to its founders, who constitute the majority of Saule’s shareholders. My goal is to continue Saule’s development – but without Piotr Kurczewski from DC24 and Dawid Zieliński from Columbus,” declares the scientist.

Early stage of development

Following our contact with Olga Malinkiewicz, Saule’s leadership team – responsible for the scientific, production, and line-design divisions – sent a statement to our editorial office. They explained that the purpose of the analysis was to examine the company’s current capabilities and to define the steps necessary for scaling production and executing a 10-year development plan. The team confirmed that the EUR 250 million figure did not refer solely to the cost of building a single factory. Rather, it was an estimate for implementing a long-term development plan, which includes, among other things, the creation of new, more demanding products.

“Perovskite technology is among the most advanced and promising areas of photovoltaics, yet it remains at an early stage of industrial development. Its unique advantage lies in the enormous diversity of material properties, enabling a wide range of potential products. Saule’s strategy has always been to leverage this flexibility. The plan envisioned the first commercialization and monetization of the technology in niche applications, which have lower technical requirements but offer attractive margins (e.g. electronic shelf labels).

At the same time, intensive work on subsequent product generations, aimed at more demanding applications, was to continue. Such an approach is typical for the deployment of breakthrough ‘deep tech’ technologies, which have long development horizons. Perovskites are unique because their potential, considering future multi-junction architectures, provides a development outlook spanning decades. Reports of alleged failed implementations are part of a narrative that does not account for the fact that pilot tests and trials are a natural stage in the research and development process,” the Saule team stated.

The team declined a request for a phone interview.

Key Takeaways

1. Technology audit raises concerns. Saule Technologies’ new management commissioned an internal review of the company’s perovskite solar-cell technology, assessing its status in the context of the development plan and potential future investments. The goal was to identify current capabilities and define the steps necessary to scale production and execute a 10-year growth plan. According to management, the audit revealed that the technology is at a much earlier stage than previously claimed and requires significantly more funding than asserted by its creator, Olga Malinkiewicz. The board alleges that Ms. Malinkiewicz misled shareholders and investors and has announced plans to report the matter to the prosecutor’s office.
2. Creator disputes allegations. Olga Malinkiewicz rejects these accusations. She insists that her statements regarding production-line efficiency and investment costs were accurate. She argues that the discrepancies cited by Saule’s new management result from deliberate manipulation of facts and a lack of understanding of the technology. Ms. Malinkiewicz also signals her intention to fight to restore control of the company to its founders.
3. Future of Saule uncertain. Meanwhile, prospects for saving Saule are weakening. Power has already been cut at the Wrocław facility, and the company faces restructuring. The new management has stated that the technology could still be developed if a buyer acquires Saule’s organized business unit – including patents and machinery – and convinces the team to return and continue working on the project.