North America PV Snippets: LONGi, Sunlight, PowerFlex

• LONGi has announced the USPTO has found Hanwha Q-Cells' patent infringement claims invalid
• Sunlight Financial has completed merger with Spartan Acquisition and started trading on NYSE as SUNL
• EDF Renewables North America's subsidiary PowerFlex has expanded its portfolio to also include onsite solar

LONGi: Hanwha Q-Cells' US patent clai  invalid: Chinese solar wafer and module manufacturer LONGi Solar said the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final written decision on an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding, declaring all of the patent claims in Hanwha Q-Cells' US Patent 8,933,525B2 as invalid. It said the USPTO agreed that the patent claims do not fulfill several legal requirements and are unpatenable. Hanwha Q-Cells had filed a patent infringement case against LONGi Solar, JinkoSolar and REC Group in March 2019 complaining of the companies unlawfully incorporating its passivation technology into their solar cells (see Hanwha Complains Of Patent Infringement). While a regional court in Germany found substance in its claims, REC Group dragged the Chinese presence of the South Korean manufacturer to a Chinese court accusing it of patent infringement for split cell and junction box technology (see REC Patent Infringement Case Against Hanwha).

"Although this patent has been filed and was granted in many countries previously, it was considered to be obvious and not novel based on the analysis of LONGi's IP team, which filed an invalidity procedure with evidence in a number of countries," stated LONGi Solar. "This decision is welcome news for LONGi and also for the industry. It follows LONGi's earlier success in invalidating another Hanwha Q-Cells solar cell patent, US 9,893,215B2, in another IPR proceeding. That was initiated after Hanwha Q-Cells filed a suit against LONGi at the US International Trade Commission (USITC) in 2019."

Sunlight Financial starts trading on NYSE: Solar home systems financier Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. has started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker SUNL, as the new public holding company after its merger completed with Spartan Acquisition Corp. II. "As demand for residential solar and battery storage solutions continues to grow, Sunlight is well-positioned to extend its lead as the point-of-sale technology platform of choice and provide frictionless financing for solar and home improvement customers, contractors and capital providers. We look forward to further scaling our business and executing on our strategic goals to deliver sustainable and profitable growth and create long-term value for our stockholders," said Sunlight CEO Matt Potere.

Onsite solar added to PowerFlex' offerings: EDF Renewables North America's subsidiary PowerFlex has expanded its existing business portfolio of battery storage, electric vehicle (EV) charging, microgrids, and energy management systems to now include onsite solar. It explains that this creates a one-stop-shop providing turnkey solutions for a comprehensive range of onsite energy needs for commercial and industrial segment. Another EDF Renewables subsidiary EnterSolar has also added its onsite activities to the PowerFlex platform. With this regrouping of all activities, the company said PowerFlex is now into system design, engineering, project financing and post-installation asset management. PowerFlex's portfolio includes over 400 MW of commercial solar installed with more than 40 MWh of onsite storage in operation, construction or contracted.