Chinese solar PV manufacturer Aiko Solar will license a raft of solar cell technology patents from Singapore-based manufacturer Maxeon.
Aiko will license all of Maxeon’s back contact (BC) solar cell and module technology patents outside the US, under an agreement announced today. This includes all of its current patents and those planned to come in over the next five years.
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The deal marks a truce in the intellectual property (IP) feud between the two firms, which has seen Maxeon bring multiple patent infringement cases against Aiko in Europe over the last two years, specifically referring to its BC technology. At least one of these was denied by a Dutch court in 2024.
“The successful conclusion of this patent licensing agreement demonstrates both parties’ respect for the value of intellectual property, strengthening intellectual property protection, and promoting technological advancement in the solar industry,” a statement from Maxeon read.
A joint statement from the companies said: “This collaboration reflects a maturing, rules‑based approach among leading technology players, promoting a healthier competitive environment built on intellectual property recognition.”
Financial details of the patent licensing were not disclosed, though BC properties for cell and module are likely valuable to Aiko, which has become a major proponent of BC technology.
The move to license its technology to Aiko follows a difficult and transformative period for Maxeon. Notably, in November 2024 the company announced plans to focus “exclusively” on the US market and sold its non-US assets to its majority shareholder, Chinese technology giant TCL Group.
Like many solar manufacturers, the company has recorded poor financial showings in recent reports. Though unlike its giant Chinese counterparts, Maxeon’s shipments declined by around 90% from 2023 to 2025.
The decline was partially due to disputes with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which has detained Maxeon’s Mexican-made solar modules since late 2024 because their products fell foul of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
CBP told PV Tech at the time that Maxeon had not provided “sufficient documentation” to prove its compliance with the rule, which was introduced to prevent products exposed to alleged forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China from entering the US. Maxeon disputed these claims at the time.
BC technology’s emergence
Aiko is among a number of voices in the solar industry that are backing BC technology as the future of solar. The company published a white paper last summer, along with Chinese solar manufacturing giant LONGi, exploring the potential of BC as the next evolution of solar PV technology, following on the heels of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon), which ascended to the mainstream of the industry last year.
PV technology experts like Radovan Kopecek, founder of ISC Konstanz in Germany, have predicted that BC technology, and bifacial BC in particular, will become the dominant technology in the PV industry. Writing for PV Tech Premium last year, he said that the technology had “transformative potential” in the global solar industry.
