How Talon PV plans to crack America’s TOPCon solar cell challenge

“As we went down the road of TOPCon, of course this lawfare that’s happening with intellectual property in the TOPCon space was prevalent,” Tesanovich explains. “So we took a deep dive to look at what IP we could be infringing on. After that analysis, because we’re utilising PVD in our process versus PECVD or other CVD processes, the only IP that we really infringed on was the TetraSun IP from First Solar.”

The TOPCon patent challenge

TOPCon technology has been considered too risky for US manufacturers due to extensive patent litigation between major Asian producers. The technology has been at the centre of what Tesanovich calls “lawfare” – with companies like Maxeon, LG, and Trina locked in patent disputes. Last month, in an interview with PV Tech, the CEO of another US cell production start-up, ES Foundry, expressed his belief that no company can safely produce TOPCon cells in the US without fear of litigation.

But Tesanovich is confident in Talon’s position. By using physical vapour deposition (PVD) rather than chemical vapour deposition (CVD) processes, the company believes it sidesteps most patent issues. The crucial breakthrough came through securing a licensing agreement with First Solar for the TetraSun intellectual property.

“We reached out to First Solar. We’re very aligned on our idea of what the domestic marketplace should look like,” Tesanovich says. “Because of that and also utilising TOPCon cells as back cells and their drive towards perovskites in tandem to supplement their thin film, we really found a great strategic partner in the industry, almost a big brother.”

This partnership makes Talon “the only licence holder in the US that has the ability to produce TOPCon cells that are free and clear of IP”, according to Tesanovich. The company has also engaged directly with other TOPCon IP stakeholders, conducting detailed discussions about potential infringement. “Those conversations have been very positive, and, at this point, we feel that we’re free and clear,” he adds.

From HJT to TOPCon

Talon’s journey began in an unlikely place: the oil and gas industry. Tesanovich and his partners Brandon Dewan and Jared Light built Eagle Group from a small business in 2013 into a major supplier of metallurgical products for hydrocarbon transmission and drilling, serving clients including BP, Repsol, Shell and Chevron.

“A lot of our clients were companies that were getting into renewables, and specifically we saw solar as a great opportunity,” Tesanovich recalls. The team recognised that while the US had lost much of its solar manufacturing intellectual property and footprint to Asia over the past 15 years, there was now “an immediate need for manufacturing here in the US”.

Initially, the company planned to manufacture heterojunction (HJT) cells, attracted by their compatibility with future perovskite tandem technologies. However, market feedback from potential customers proved sobering.

“As we went to market with HJT plans, the initial reception was positive, but as we started drilling down into it and the 45X [tax credit] was kicking in, a lot of the module companies were very hesitant to want to try a new technology,” Tesanovich explains. Module manufacturers would need to adjust stringers and temperatures for HJT cells, creating operational complications they preferred to avoid while benefiting from existing tax incentives.

Four factors ultimately drove Talon’s pivot to TOPCon technology. First, the realisation that TOPCon cells could serve as effective back cells for future perovskite tandems, maintaining the company’s long-term technology roadmap. Second, existing US infrastructure was better suited to integrate TOPCon cells into p-type production lines compared to HJT. Third, HJT technology remained “somewhat unproven in the field”, says Tesanovich. Finally, even Asian manufacturers were “running into difficulties producing HJT cells at a reasonable cost”, Tesanovich says.

The shift also aligned with market constraints in the US caused by ongoing patent litigation. “Having a TOPCon cell is more than good for the US marketplace,” Tesanovich notes.

European equipment, American manufacturing

Talon has made a bold bet on European equipment suppliers, challenging industry conventional wisdom. At Intersolar in Munich two years ago, Tesanovich recalls sitting on a panel where “everybody was saying it’s impossible to utilise European equipment and create a business case that supports the higher capex cost”.

“We took that as a challenge,” he says. The company’s analysis showed that while European equipment requires higher capital expenditure, operational expenses are significantly lower due to reduced power usage, water consumption, downtime and staffing requirements. “You hit parity within two to three years on the higher capex because it saves on opex.”

The European equipment strategy also provides strategic advantages, including local spare parts availability and reduced dependence on Southeast Asian supply chains. Crucially, Talon has “zero FEOC IP” and “zero FEOC investment” in its project, insulating it from Foreign Entity of Concern regulations that have complicated other US solar projects, Tesanovich claims.

Fraunhofer partnership and R&D strategy

A key pillar of Talon’s technology development is its partnership with Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE. Rather than building an R&D facility in Houston, the company decided to invest in a pilot line at Fraunhofer’s Freiburg facility.

“We were going to do our R&D and pilot line here in the US at our facility,” Tesanovich explains. “What we realised is that was going to be a very myopic focus on our current equipment versus a wider vision around what are the next technologies, what are the new advancements that are coming in. Fraunhofer is probably best in class in the world on that. And so we decided that we would put invest in a pilot line with Fraunhofer and our equipment suppliers in Freiburg, Germany.”

The pilot line, coming online in Q2 2026, will produce G12, M10, and larger format cells using identical equipment to Talon’s main production lines. This approach allows the company to dial in formulas and processes before its Houston facility reaches full production, enabling rapid ramp-up while providing training opportunities for US-based teams. Another benefit is that Talon will be able to send its team over to Fraunhofer to train on the same equipment that will be used in the eventual production line.

Importantly, the equipment already has the capability to deposit perovskite tandem layers, a factor that Tesanovich says positions Talon well to have a headstart in this emerging area of PV technology. “What we’re doing is coming together to create a handshake from scalable commercial industrial manufacturing already having that capability in our tools,” he says. “This is a strategy that we’ve deployed to get tandem and perovskite cells out into the marketplace sooner than later.

Policy tailwinds and market demand

Despite the policy uncertainties for the US solar industry following the recent enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill, Tesanovich sees the regulatory environment as providing “quite a bit of tailwind” for Talon’s project. The combination of manufacturing tax credits (45X) and deployment incentives creates what he calls “carrots and sticks” that benefit domestic manufacturers.

“The majority of developers have already safe harboured their projects for the next four to five years,” he notes, referring to projects that locked in favourable tax treatment before recent policy changes. This provides demand visibility even as some incentive programmes face uncertainty.

The company has also benefited from strong support from AI and data centre companies that have been “very vocal in their support of solar and battery” for powering their facilities. Solar and battery storage represent “the only deployable power source that is short-term,” compared to natural gas projects requiring at least two to three years and nuclear projects taking 10-15 years.

“The only way to win the AI race is via solar and battery, and that has become clear to this administration,” Tesanovich observes.

Supply chain and customer base

Talon has secured partnerships with domestic suppliers including Hemlock and Corning for polysilicon and wafers, as well as Nowegian ingot and wafter producer NorSun as that company develops its capabilities. This domestic supply chain approach aligns with growing demand from independent power producers (IPPs) and developers seeking “non-FEOC supply chain” options.

The company’s facility is “essentially completely booked for the next three to five years, depending on the contract”, with strong demand from IPPs and developers. Tesanovich notes that Talon provides value to various industry participants, including potential competitors, by offering cells that won’t trigger patent litigation for module manufacturers.

Talon expects to begin commercial production in Q1 2027, with its Houston facility already secured, along with necessary permits, power, water and wastewater infrastructure. The company has invested heavily in workforce development, establishing programmes at local high schools and trade schools while partnering with Rice University for advanced technical training.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on the front side of our workforce development,” Tesanovich emphasises, noting strong local enthusiasm for these educational initiatives.

Technology reliability and future outlook

Addressing concerns about TOPCon’s field reliability, Tesanovich points to recent research that has resolved early degradation issues. “By utilising good quality inputs as well as playing with formulas to remove aluminium, the industry has found their way around that,” he explains. “Fraunhofer and others have done extensive research on the degradation in TOPCon, and there is a very clear pathway to not having those issues in the marketplace.”

As Talon prepares to begin production, the company represents a test case for whether US manufacturers can successfully compete in solar cell production using advanced technologies and European equipment partnerships. The industry will no doubt be watching keenly to see if Talon’s strategy of producing TOPCon cells in the US without being dragged into patent battles pays off.

Its success or failure will likely influence whether other US entrepreneurs follow Talon’s path or continue to view domestic solar cell manufacturing as more trouble than it’s worth.

Talon PV is a partner at our PV CellTech USA conference in California, kicking off tomorrow. For full details on the event, click here. PV Tech readers can enjoy a 20% discount on conference registration using the code PVTech20.