Singapore-based solar manufacturer Maxeon has reached a settlement with Chinese solar giant Tongwei over a solar cell technology patent dispute.
Maxeon opened the case against Tongwei in Germany in June 2023. The case concerns shingled solar cell technology patents used in Maxeon’s Performance line modules, which it claimed Tongwei had been infringing on in the German market.
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Now the two companies have entered into a Settlement and Cross-Licensing Agreement, ending the dispute.
Maxeon has launched a number of technology patent infringement disputes against solar manufacturing competitors over the last two years. Over the same period, the company has endured a string of negative financial results and a corporate restructuring late last year.
These lawsuits have concerned both tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology – predominantly in the US – and interdigitated back contact (IBC) and shingled cell technologies.
In October, the company appointed George Guo, formerly of Chinese conglomerate TCL Group, as CEO following the departure of former CEO Bill Mulligan. We spoke with Mulligan at the Intersolar Europe trade show this summer about the company’s financial struggles and its insistence on technology patent cases in a two-part interview (premium access).
TCL Group owns Maxeon’s largest shareholder, TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology Co. Ltd (TZE). TZE invested around US$200 million in Maxeon last year to sustain its operations following disappointing Q1 2024 financial results.
In November, Maxeon sold its non-US assets to TCL and announced plans to focus its operations entirely on the US market. Then, last month, the company announced plans to “re-create” itself under Guo’s leadership.
