Maxeon and Canadian Solar end green tech patent dispute
Solar panel makers Maxeon Solar Technologies and Canadian Solar Japan KK have concluded a patent dispute centring on solar cell technology in Tokyo District Court, Japan.
The companies jointly announced the development on Wednesday, April 20.
Maxeon Solar filed the lawsuit in September 2020, claiming that the Japanese unit of Canadian Solar had infringed its Japan Patent number: JP6642841B2( “Shingled Solar Cell Module”) in relation to the shingled solar cell technology used in the SunPower performance-branded solar panels, made by Maxeon.
Canadian Solar Japan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, which is headquartered in Canada with operations and production facilities in China and in South-East Asia.
Shingled solar cell panels are typically made from separating solar cells into smaller solar cell strips and then connecting the resulting solar cell strips in an overlapping layout. The result is a higher power, higher efficiency panel, with enhanced reliability and improved durability compared to conventional panels.
The performance panel architecture and manufacturing processes were initially developed by Silicon Valley-based start-up company Cogenra Solar which was later acquired by SunPower Corporation in 2015.
When this company spun off into Maxeon Solar Technologies, Maxeon retained the use of the SunPower brand in the more than 100 markets it serves. Maxeon produces its SunPower solar panels in China at Huansheng Photovoltaic (Jiangsu), in a joint venture with the company, Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor.
With more than three gigawatts deployed across over 60 countries to date, performance panels are the industry’s most deployed shingled solar cell panel technology, noted Maxeon in the complaint.
“We’ve built our business on a 35-year foundation of pioneering solar innovation. The IP behind our shingled solar cell technology was developed by our talented design and engineering teams and is the result of substantial investment,” said Jeff Waters, CEO of Maxeon Solar Technologies at the time of filing the lawsuit.
“The resultant performance technology outperforms conventional panels in efficiency, power, reliability and aesthetics,” he also added.
According to Maxeon, the innovation behind performance panels is protected by an international portfolio of more than 150 patents and patent applications covering shingled solar cell and panel design, as well as key manufacturing tools and processes.
Under the agreement, Canadian Solar Japan has agreed to withdraw challenges to Maxeon's patent and to discontinue selling shingled solar cell modules in Japan until the second quarter of 2025 after satisfying certain outstanding 2022 orders.
Other details about the settlement remain confidential.
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