Patent Lawsuit Against SMA Solar Technology

• Tigo Energy has accused SMA Solar Technology America of infringing on its patent for module level solar rapid shutdown technology
• The lawsuit includes all SMA legal entities in the US as well as around the world
• Tigo has filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware

US based module level power electronics (MLPE) supplier Tigo Energy has approached the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and filed a patent infringement lawsuit against SMA Solar Technology America regarding its module level solar rapid shutdown technology.

Tigo says the patent infringement is related to 6 claims out of which 4 got it license agreements with multiple suppliers. It has accused infringement by SMA products compliant with SunSpec Alliance. SMA and some of its suppliers are accused of copying Tigo innovations that enable rapid shutdown requirements of solar modules, in compliance with the National Electric Code.

According to Tigo, these devices are required to be attached to PV panels to ensure rapid shutdown of PV systems to reduce shock hazard for emergency responders. The lawsuit includes all SMA legal entities in the US and around the world.

SMA Solar is yet to respond to the accusation in public. Interestingly, in 2016 Germany headquartered SMA Solar acquired 27% stake in Tigo Energy under a strategic partnership that also had the latter granting SMA exclusive rights for the worldwide sales of its smart module technology TS4 Retrofit.

TaiyangNews contacted SMA Solar for its reaction, but till the time of this story being published, we had not heard back.