On October 8, Trina Solar filed a patent infringement complaint against Canadian Solar in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging that Canadian Solar infringed two of Trina’s patents relating to TOPCon technology used in solar panel manufacturing . The two patents cited (Nos. 9,722,104 and 10,230,009) are the same ones that Trina claims Runergy is also infringing.
Canadian Solar TOPCon module
Canadian Solar has now responded to the patent infringement complaint and pledges to continue supplying its solar products to the United States and worldwide.
“Canadian Solar respects and takes its own intellectual property rights and those of third parties very seriously. In our opinion, this is a frivolous lawsuit and we expect the court will find that our patented TOPCon technology does not infringe the patents claimed by Trina,” said Trina. Adam Waltersgeneral advisor for North and South America for Canadian Solar’s modules and system solutions.
Trina escalated her case against Runergy earlier this month by asking the U.S. International Trade Commission to complete an investigation under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which would direct U.S. Customs to prevent infringing imports from entering the United States. Trina also included Adani Green Energy as an infringing party in its Sec. 337 research request.
Runergy responded by asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to “cancel” the two patents and deem them “unpatentable.” Runergy said the two patents were not the result of Trina’s own work, but were instead purchased by Trina in 2024. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems had already published details of TOPCon solar cells in 2013, and the two patents that Trina acquired were filed a year later. after Fraunhofer’s publication, Runergy said, making the technology unpatentable.
Alleged infringement of the TOPCon patent is a hot topic in the solar energy market this year. Maxeon acquired a series of TOPCon patents from Solaria after Solaria sold its intellectual property portfolio last year. Maxeon has since filed patent infringement complaints against Canadian Solar, REC and Hanwha Qcells regarding TOPCon technology.
Although First Solar is a manufacturer of thin-film panels, it also holds patents related to TOPCon technology, and the company said this summer that it would investigate possible infringement and file appropriate complaints.