Maxeon Solar Technologies has filed a lawsuit against Tongwei Solar in the District Court of Düsseldorf, Germany, alleging infringement of its European patent for solar cell technology.
Maxeon announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Düsseldorf in Germany. It alleges that Tongwei infringed its European Patent No. EP3522045 B1 for solar panel technology. Maxeon uses tec in its Performance Line solar modules.
“The intellectual property behind our single solar cell technology is the result of investment and technological advancements, and the resulting Performance Line outperforms traditional panels in terms of efficiency, power and reliability,” said Maxeon CEO Bill Mulligan. “In September 2020, Maxeon filed a lawsuit against Canadian Solar in Japan, which was later settled in April 2022. With this latest filing against Tongwei Solar, Maxeon will continue to vigorously enforce its valuable intellectual property rights to prohibit unauthorized use.”
Tongwei didn’t answer pv magazines request for comment at the time of publication.
The Performance Line PV panel architecture and manufacturing process was pioneered by Cogenra Solar, a Silicon Valley startup that SunPower acquired in 2015. In SunPower’s 2020 spinoff, Maxeon retained the intellectual property rights related to solar cell and module technologies and the SunPower brand in the more than 100 markets it serves, according to the company’s statement.
