After the photovoltaic industry fell into the dilemma of overcapacity, leading companies sacrificed a patent war, which is a big "magic weapon".

According to Xinhua Finance and Economics, recently, China Customs has seized containers suspected of infringement in accordance with the law, many of which involve photovoltaic modules. According to industry sources, the companies involved point to Trina Solar (SH688599, stock price 16.99 yuan, market value 37 billion yuan) and Artes (SH688472, stock price 9.92 yuan, market value 36.6 billion yuan).

In this context, whether Trina Solar advocates the seizure of Artes components or customs identification and seizure has become the focus of attention in the industry.

In response, Trina Solar replied to the reporter of "Daily Economic News": "The protection of intellectual property rights is the consensus of the leading enterprises in the photovoltaic industry. It is an industrial behavior, not a corporate behavior. At this SNEC (International Solar Photovoltaic and Smart Energy Conference and Exhibition) and the previous seminar on the development of digital intelligence and intellectual property rights in the photovoltaic industry chain, including Longji, GCL, Tianhe, Jingke, Jingao (including industry leaders), all stated that they should attach importance to intellectual property protection."

As for whether a batch of goods were seized by Shanghai Customs, on June 25, the staff of Artes replied to the Daily Economic News: "What I have learned is that it cannot be said to be seized, but only temporarily detained by the Customs. The Customs cannot determine whether the detained goods infringe the intellectual property rights of the intellectual property rights holder. Our legal affairs are actively dealing with it."

June 15, 2024, Shanghai, the 17th International Solar Photovoltaic Exhibition, "Artes" booth. Visual China Map

TOPCon patent war?

although Trina Solar and Artes have not directly responded to whether to launch a "patent war" in response to this seizure, it is a fact that some leading enterprises in the industry have filed patent lawsuits.

Trina Solar pointed out: "Trina Solar (Solar) is not a precedent for patent litigation. Previously (TCL) Central, through its US subsidiary Maxeon, has sued Artes in the United States, and that litigation is still in progress."

according to the announcement of arcs on March 29, the company recently learned that Maxeon has filed a lawsuit against Solar Inc. (arcs group, hereinafter referred to as CSIQ), the controlling shareholder of the company, in the federal court of the eastern district of Texas, claiming that CSIQ, through its affiliated companies, directly or indirectly damaged the patent rights of three "tunneling oxide passivation contact technologies" (hereinafter referred to as TOPCon) held by Maxeon company for photovoltaic cells.

According to Artes 2023 Annual Report. Artes said: "Maxeon has asked CSIQ and its subsidiaries to stop the infringement and compensate for losses and expenses, but has not proposed a specific amount of damages. As the other party is currently suing only CSIQ and has not sued the Company or its subsidiaries, we are actively cooperating with CSIQ in the litigation." According to the preliminary analysis of the relevant patent documents, Artes believes that there are obvious differences between the product and process of the company's one side and the other's patent protection product structure and process, which does not constitute infringement of the relevant patent.

It is worth noting that Artes has relatively few patents in the field of TOPCon.

According to Smart Bud data, up to now, Trine Solar and its affiliates have more than 50 published patent applications in the TOPCon field; among them, there are more than 40 invention patents. The technical layout of Trinity Solar in this field is mainly concentrated in the subdivision fields of polysilicon layer, tunneling layer, passivation layer, metal electrode, etc.

In the field of TOPCon, Artes and its affiliates have six open patent applications; of which, three are invention patents. In this field, ATS technology layout is mainly focused on the battery, non-stick layer, glass layer, output power and other sub-areas.

In addition, the reporter of "national business daily" inquired about the prospectus of Artes and found that the company has a large number of patents related to "back contact". Among the 12 major technical reserves listed, there is "high-efficiency back contact battery module technology", namely BC battery module. In addition, among the twelve major technologies, there are perovskite, no main gate, BIPV, offshore photovoltaic, inverter, lithium battery energy storage system and sodium ion battery technology, and there is no TOPCon technology.

On March 8, Qu Xiaohua, founder, chairman and CEO of Ates Sunshine Power Group, said: "In the current N-type technology era, technology is becoming more and more complex, and there is a problem of technical route selection. In the mass-produced TOPCon, HJT (heterojunction), xBC technology, although TOPCon is currently in the leading position, but different technologies have short and long, there is room for tapping, suitable for different scenarios, in each sub-application field, the final winning technology is not yet known. The perovskite technology, which has not yet been mass-produced, but is highly expected, amplifies the uncertainty of the choice of technical route."

An unnamed photovoltaic industry source told reporters: "N-type crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell core patents, basically controlled by European and American enterprises, some patents have passed the protection period. Domestic enterprises through the acquisition also obtained some patents, but there is no system original technology. At present, the industry is happy to see disputes between leading enterprises, can be resolved after the screening of differences."

Dispute over patent or dispute over sea?

just six months ago, Trinity and Artes joined hands to promote the "700W +" alliance ecology. According to Trinity Solar's official WeChat, from December 14 to December 16, 2023, the "2023 Photovoltaic Industry Annual Conference" was held in Suqian, Jiangsu Province. Trinity Solar joined hands with Artes, Dongfang Risheng, TCL Central, Tongwei Stock and Chint Xinneng as the initiators to jointly launch the "700W + Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance" pilot upgrade ceremony.

In the past six months, prices in the photovoltaic industry have declined, and overcapacity has become more serious. On March 8, Zhang Hanbing, chief sustainability officer of Ates Sunshine Power Group, lamented: "2024 will be too difficult for Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers."

At that time, Zhang Hanbing further said: "In the past two years, photovoltaic enterprises are in a big fanfare to expand production capacity, excessive capacity investment led to the latest technology of TOPCon module price is lower than cabbage. Sales every day to find the leadership to apply for price special approval, 80 cents a watt of 210 TOPCon module list, or not? Some companies dare to pick up, some companies dare not pick up."

In this context, going to sea has become a "battleground" for major photovoltaic manufacturers ".

according to Artes's 2023 annual report, the company's overseas business revenue is 35.268 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 17.81. In contrast, the domestic business revenue is 15.148 billion yuan, and the gross profit margin is only 7.24. According to this calculation, Artes's overseas business accounts for about 70% of revenue.

in 2023, Trine Solar's overseas revenue of crystalline silicon cells was 42.493 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 19.80, while its domestic revenue was 33.956 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 10.22.

Will the temporary detention of Artes goods by Shanghai Customs affect the next export of TOPCon components? In this regard, the above-mentioned Artes staff said: "If there is no infringement, why will it affect the export, the company's legal affairs are also actively dealing with, (now) to draw a conclusion, it is too early."

Source of cover image: Visual China