Get Ready For A Major Solar Showdown

(MENAFN- Baystreet) Last month, we reported yet another perovskite breaththrough as solar panels continue making impressive efficiency gains. To wit, Hanwha Qcells, a subsidiary of South Korea's giant conglomerate Hanwha Corp, set a world record for the efficiency of a large-area silicon solar cell with a top layer of perovskite, a development that could dramatically shrink the size of projects and slash costs. Qcells announced it has achieved cell efficiency of 28.6% on a large commercial-sized cell known as an M10 using the technology, considerably higher than around 21% for traditional commercial silicon solar panels.
Then a couple of days ago, JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) posted yet another perovskite record after its N-type TOPCon-based perovskite tandem solar cell achieved a 33.84% conversion efficiency, beating the company's previous record of 33.24% set in May. Jinko Solar says the record was verified by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"This achievement highlights the compatibility of TOPCon as a mainstream solar cell technology with the next-generation perovskite/silicon tandem cell technology, paving the way for new possibilities in the future development of the photovoltaic industry," the company said.
Well, it now appears that the technology that's driving those record gains is also going to keep patent courts busy in the coming years. A flurry of patent battles have erupted in the solar sector thanks to the iconic tunnel oxide passivated contact, aka TOPCon, solar panel manufacturing technology. TOPCon combines the benefits of crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon thin-film into one high-power hybrid solar cell. Unlike the more complex HJT (heterojunction technology), TOPCon only requires adding one oxide layer to PERC cells, a feature that has made it highly attractive to many solar manufacturers.
TOPCon was first introduced to the industry in 2013 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany. Mainstream Chinese manufacturers started using the tech in 2019; however, TOPCon's breakthrough year came in 2023 when 37 TOPCon modules were tested followed by 160 module tests in 2024. With the field becoming crowded and a flurry of TOPCon patents being filed at a rapid clip, patent battles have become relentless as manufacturers seek to establish supremacy in the highly competitive sector. On Monday, JinkoSolar filed a patent infringement lawsuit against China's Longi over the use of an unspecified TOPCon solar cell technology.
“JinkoSolar has sued Longi to demand it to immediately stop infringing on relevant patents and compensate for economic losses,” a JinkoSolar spokesperson told pv magazine. LONGi is a leader in solar wafer, cell, and module manufacturing. The company's solar panels were ranked as a Tier 1 by Bloomberg and a Top Performer by PV Evolution Labs in 2024.
Last month, JinkoSolar filed a similar patent infringement action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against VSUN Solar USA, Toyo Co., and their related entities in the U.S. and abroad for infringement of its patents
"JinkoSolar has earned its leadership position in the global solar module market through significant R&D investments and will vigorously defend its intellectual property against those who sell infringing products," said Louise Lu, a patent litigation lawyer with the Perkins Coie law firm.
JinkoSolar is hardly an outlier here. Last year, Maxeon Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:MAXN) filed TOPCon suits against Qcells and Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ). Maxeon currently holds three patents related to TOPCon technology, which were initially granted to SunPower Corp. and assigned to Maxeon in 2022.
“Maxeon has a strong heritage in developing solar cell technology, leading the development and commercialization of tunnel oxide passivated contacts,” said Marc Robinson, associate general counsel for Maxeon.“Years before the moniker 'TOPCon' started to be used in the industry to describe a tunnel oxide passivated contact-based solar cell, our scientists and engineers had developed several ways to implement TOPCon technology into both back-contact and front-contact solar cells.”
Meanwhile, China's Trina Solar has filed TOPCon infringement suits against Runergy, Adani and Canadian Solar.
U.S. Solar Cell Production Resumes
Solar cell manufacturing in the United States resumed in the third quarter as silicon cells were manufactured in the country for the first time since 2019, a pivotal moment for America's surging solar manufacturing sector.
The U.S. added a record-breaking 9.3 gigawatts (GW) of new solar module manufacturing capacity in the quarter. According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q4 2024 report released by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, five new or expanded factories in three states were added, bringing U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity to nearly 40 GW--nearly enough to meet the country's solar demand.
“Federal solar policies and increased private investments are strengthening our nation's energy security and creating thousands of new job opportunities for American workers,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper.“The United States is stepping up to take market share from foreign competitors and making sure that the jobs and economic growth from solar are benefiting American communities.”
Last year, the Biden administration slapped hefty tariffs on Chinese solar products as it looks to protect U.S. manufacturers. Back in November, it announced a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian nations, according to initial findings of a Commerce Department review that unveiled duties of as much as 271%.
The solar sector has kicked off the new year on a bullish note, with the sector's benchmark, the Invesco Solar ETF (NYSEARCA:TAN), up 10.1% in the year-to-date compared to 3.2% gain by the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLE) and 0.9% by the S&P 500.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice

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