Singapore-based solar PV manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy in Germany, accusing it of infringing on its back-contact cell architectures.

The lawsuit filed in Mannheim District Court also names  its subsidiaries Aiko Energy Germany GmbH and Solarlab Aiko Europe GmbH and German wholesaler Memodo GmbH, which is selling Aiko modules, among other products (see Day 1 Highlights From Intersolar Europe 2023).

Specifically, Maxeon’s lawsuit alleges infringement of its European Patent No. EP2297788B1, referring to ‘back-contact solar cells with doped polysilicon regions separated via trench structures and fabrication process therefor.’

Maxeon explains that this relates to proprietary and fundamental solar cell architectures for rear or back contact solar cells called All-Back Contact (ABC) or Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cells. The company explains that back contact cells do not have metal contacts on the front, thus doing away with shading and boosting energy yield.

“We believe that Aiko uses Maxeon’s technology,” said Maxeon’s Chief Legal & Sustainability Officer Lindsey Wiedmann. “Maxeon expects Aiko and Memodo to respect Maxeon’s patent rights and immediately stop unauthorized use of Maxeon’s patented technology.” Maxeon CEO Bill Mulligan said the lawsuit against Aiko and Memodo is necessary to protect the company’s intellectual property, significant R&D and other investments.

Maxeon pointed out that they are an industry leader in this technology field that have pioneered the development of IBC cell technology since it was introduced 20 years ago and that it recently announced a world-record module aperture efficiency measurement of 24.7% for its next generation IBC panels (see Module Efficiency Record From Maxeon).

In TaiyangNews’ latest monthly Top Solar Module Listing for commercial modules, Maxeon’s top product is listed on rank 3 with a 23% efficient solar module (see Top Solar Modules Listing – October 2023). The current efficiency leader in this list is Aiko with  its 24% efficiency ABC module series, followed by a back-contact module with 23.2% efficiency from the world’s largest solar company LONGi on rank 2, and Huasun on third place with a 23.02% HJT-technology based solar module. Aiko aims to reach 27% cell efficiency, up from currently 26.5% by 2024, leading to a module efficiency of approximately 25% (see High(est) Efficiency ABC Modules From Aiko).

In a response to Maxeon’s announcement about filing a patent infringement lawsuit Aiko published a statement pointing at its extensive patent portfolio: “As a world-leading new energy technology company, Aiko has been relentless in developing cutting-edge technology and leading the industry with innovation by attaching great importance to intellectual property rights and adhering to independent innovation. As of October 31, 2023, the company has applied for a total of 1,882 patents and obtained 1,061 granted patents, including 325 patents applied for ABC (All Back Contact) technology, among which 157 have been granted, forming a complete protection system for our products.”

While Aiko said in its Nov. 16 published statement that I hasn’t received the complaint and does not know the exact content so far, it emphasized, “We intend to robustly defend our position with our partners while jointly and actively seeking a resolution to defend our legitimate rights and interests, retaining the right to pursue further proceedings.

In June 2023, Maxeon slapped a patent infringement lawsuit on Tongwei Solar of China over shingled solar cell technology (see Another Patent Fight Brewing).