Trina Solar, a Chinese module producer, has filed a patent infringement case in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against three unidentified Canadian Solar units.
Canadian Solar has confirmed that the IP action covers two specific US patents owned by Trina and relates to TOPCon solar module technology.
“Canadian Solar respects and takes very seriously its own intellectual property rights, as well as those of third parties,” stated Adam Walters, general counsel Americas for Canadian Solar’s modules and systems solutions division. “In our view, this is a frivolous lawsuit, and we expect the court will find that our proprietary TOPCon technology does not infringe on the patents claimed by Trina.”
Canadian Solar recently faced similar patent claims in the United States. Maxeon, located in Singapore, sued the firm in March for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Maxeon has already sued Canadian Solar in Japan for patent infringement in 2020. In the case, Maxeon claimed that Canadian Solar Japan violated its Japan Patent No. JP6642841B2, which is connected to its shingled solar modules. The two corporations agreed to a settlement in April 2022.
In addition, PV producer Solaria has already filed three patent infringement claims against the firm, all of which are linked to the method of extracting photovoltaic strips from solar cells for use in shingled modules.
Earlier this month, Trina Solar filed a lawsuit with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), saying that Runergy and Adani Green Energy unlawfully imported and marketed projects infringing on its TOPCon solar cell patents.
Trina Solar has over 2,000 patents, notably for TOPCon and heterojunction (HJT) solar cells. It is currently building a 5 GW production facility in Wilmer, Texas.
