Since 2025, leading domestic photovoltaic companies have "pinched each other" due to battery patent disputes, and leading enterprises have "ended".

Judging from the litigation dispute cases that have been published so far, LONGi Green Energy (601012. SH), JinkoSolar (688223. SH), Trina Solar (688599. SH), Canadian Solar (688472. SH), JA Solar (002459. SZ), Chint New Energy and other A-share photovoltaic first-tier enterprises have been affected.

Competition from "price wars" to "patent wars".

"In 2024, the scale of losses caused by fluctuations in the photovoltaic industry will far exceed the previous three industry fluctuations." Wang Bohua, honorary chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, has publicly stated that among the 121 listed photovoltaic companies, 39 have a net profit loss, and the prices of all links in the photovoltaic industry in 2024 will drop by 60%~80% compared with the high point in 2023, and most links will run at a loss in the second half of the year.

Today, the competition between photovoltaic companies has entered a white heat, and has spread from a "price war" to a "patent war". At the beginning of the new year of 2025, patent disputes between PV companies continue to be high.

On March 3, LONGi Green Energy (601012. SH) filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against JinkoSolar (688223.SH) and its subsidiaries, alleging infringement of its U.S. patents for its TOPCon technology (tunneling oxide passivation contact) and a number of other photovoltaic module products, and demanding that it prohibit the sale of the related products and pay damages.

In February 2025, LONGi Green Energy filed a patent infringement lawsuit against JinkoSolar in the Intermediate People's Court of Jinan City, Shandong Province, alleging that its products infringed LONGi's patented technology, and demanding that it stop manufacturing, selling, and offering to sell the allegedly infringing products. The Jinan Intermediate People's Court has accepted the lawsuit and is expected to hold a trial on March 20.

Prior to this, since December 2024, JinkoSolar has initiated six patent lawsuits against LONGi Green Energy in China, Japan, Australia and other places, mainly involving core technologies such as TOPCon cell technology and module design and manufacturing. So far, LONGi Green Energy and JinkoSolar are the plaintiff and defendant of each other.

Around the same time, Trina Solar (688599. SH) and Canadian Solar (688472.SH) have been involved in this round of TOPCon patent hunting.

On February 10, Trina Solar announced that it had sued Canadian Solar and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Changshu Canadian Solar Technology Co., Ltd., for infringement of invention patents, and claimed more than 1 billion yuan. The next evening, Canadian Solar announced a "response from the air", denying the patent infringement and saying that Trina's allegations "lack factual and legal basis".

On August 2 last year, the CBN reporter from JA Solar (002459. SZ) exclusively confirmed rumors that CHINT New Energy (a subsidiary of CHINT Group, 601877.SH) was sued by JA Solar for patent infringement of photovoltaic cells. In July and August of that year, JA Solar filed patent infringement lawsuits against Chint and several of its companies in Europe before the Munich Chamber of the UPC (European Unified Patent Court) and the District Court of Hamburg, Germany.

So far, according to the 2024 module shipment list compiled by industry organization InfoLink Consulting, among the top 7 module manufacturers by shipment (JinkoSolar, LONGi Green Energy, JA Solar, Trina Solar, Tongwei Co., Ltd., Chint New Energy, and Canadian Solar), except for Tongwei Co., Ltd. (600438. SH) has not been involved in this round of "patent war", and the remaining 6 PV manufacturers have formed a 1V1 "confrontation" offensive.

As P-type PERC cells approach the efficiency limit, N-type cell technology with higher photoelectric conversion efficiency is known as next-generation photovoltaic cell technology. At present, N-type photovoltaic cell technology is mainly divided into TOPCon technology, HJT technology and BC technology (platform technology).

Among the three N-type technologies, the patent dispute surrounding the HJT technology is the least. According to the analysis of Soochow Securities, HJT technology was originally proposed by Walther Fuhs in 1974, and Japan's Sanyo improved its technology in 1989 and applied for patents, and these patents have expired from 2011 to 2013. Therefore, overseas, especially in the United States, there will be no patent lawsuits from the founding companies in capacity planning.

At present, the "main battlefield" of patent hunting is still TOPCon patents, and JinkoSolar and First Solar are leading the industry in TOPCon patents. As of the end of June 2024, JinkoSolar has applied for nearly 1,000 patents related to TOPCon technology, and has obtained more than 460 TOPCon technology authorizations.

In 2013, American photovoltaic giant First Solar acquired a TOPCon technology patent portfolio through the acquisition of TetraSun, a U.S. monocrystalline silicon company, covering 12 countries including the United States, China, and Japan, and is valid until 2030.

Who is the winner at the end of the game

Behind the phenomenon of patent hunting, it reflects the essence of the deepening of photovoltaic "involution", which has become an industry consensus.

"Now it's 'a dozen in the east and a dozen in the west', and I can't distinguish between 'friend and foe', and the more 'roll' I have, the more powerful it is." In an interview with the first financial reporter, a senior executive of an A-share listed front-line photovoltaic company said that for example, a domestic friend had just sued LONGi for battery patents at home and abroad, and within a few days, an overseas company sued the friend. It is hoped that this phenomenon will attract the attention of the market and relevant state departments.

"I have concerns about the current situation." Li Zhenguo, founder and president of LONGi Green Energy, said in an interview with Yicai and other media that the rapid development of China's photovoltaic industry in the past one or two decades is the result of the joint efforts of the whole industry (including upstream and downstream, material suppliers, and equipment manufacturers). "Every PV company has its own unique patent achievements. In the case of the overall downturn of the industry, if patents become 'weapons', it will exacerbate the chaotic order. ”

"Over the years, the industry as a whole has not respected intellectual property rights enough." Li Zhenguo said, "In the past two years, the spread and popularization of photovoltaic TOPCon technology has reached a situation where there are no technical barriers and thresholds. To change this situation, we put forward the concept of original technology and independent innovation, hoping to (guide) the industry to develop towards a healthier situation. ”

According to industry opinions, the actual purpose behind this round of patent encirclement may be to facilitate patent cross-licensing negotiations between the "TOPCon camp" and the "BC camp".

The imbalance between supply and demand has led to the loss of profits in the whole industry, and in order to seize market share, whether it is the original patent or the purchased patent, the patent war has become a "bright card" of competition. In March 2024, JinkoSolar successively transferred some patents to Trina Solar and JA Solar, forming a "TOPCon camp".

Different from the "TOPCon Big Three", LONGi Green Energy proposed to vigorously develop photovoltaic BC cells as early as September 2023.

"Whether it is PERC, TOPCon or HJT cell technology, all these passivation technologies, in the end, to achieve higher efficiency, must go through the BC structure." Zhong Baoshen said in an interview with Yicai and other media that it is expected that in 2027~2028, BC products will reach a market share of 50% in the photovoltaic market.

At the same time, LONGi Green Energy and Aiko Co., Ltd. (600732. SH) is promoting the construction of the BC ecosystem, and plans to further expand its market share through the establishment of industry-recognized rules and cooperation models such as the BC Technology Alliance.

And once the guns of this patent war between Chinese photovoltaic companies start, it is difficult to say who will be the final winner.

The first financial reporter learned from a number of industry insiders that it takes about 12~18 months from the prosecution to the final ruling (including the second instance) for general patent infringement cases, and it may take 2~3 years or even longer for complex cases. During this period, the potential risk of patent infringement of the defendant company is likely to interfere with the client's decision-making and further affect the company's business development.

For example, in October 2024, Trina Solar sued Canadian Solar's wholly-owned subsidiary in the U.S. in the U.S. federal court in Delaware for a U.S. patent family corresponding to No. ZL201510892086.8 "Solar Cells and Manufacturing Methods Thereof" and initiated a Section 337 investigation with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

According to Canadian Solar's latest Notice of Procedure, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) expects to hear the case in October 2025, issue a preliminary ruling in January 2026, and issue a final ruling in May 2026. This means that, according to the timetable of the case disclosed so far, the time span from the plaintiff's lawsuit to the final judgment is more than one and a half years.

"We must be vigilant against the vicious competition that may occur in this round of industry cycle due to business difficulties." Li Zhenguo recently publicly called for independent innovation and original technology to contribute to the cycle of enterprises and the photovoltaic industry through independent innovation and original technology, rather than setting up obstacles to the high-quality development of the photovoltaic industry through commercial purposes "take-it-ism" and "inferior quality and low price", which will discredit the international image of China's photovoltaic industry and bring irreversible impact.

"Patents have become a 'weapon' for involution, and we oppose the malicious competition of photovoltaic companies in the name of patent protection." Qu Xiaohua, founder and chairman of Canadian Solar, publicly stated during the above-mentioned technical forum, "At the current moment when the photovoltaic industry is in a warm mood, if the purchased and purchased patents are used to engage in internal friction, it will hinder the development of China's original technology, and in the long run, China's photovoltaic will be in danger." ”

Qu Xiaohua said in an interview with Yicai and other media that as long as it is a patent, whether it is bought, bought or original, we respect it. If patents are used to trigger a "patent war" and everyone spends their energy on such disputes, it will delay the development of China's original technology.

During this year's two sessions, a number of photovoltaic leaders also made suggestions on original technology and independent innovation.

"Scientific and technological innovation must be deeply integrated with intellectual property protection." Gao Jifan, Chairman of Trina Solar, said that the company has joined forces with more than 10 enterprises in the industrial chain to build a manufacturing innovation center, and through joint R&D and patent sharing, it will break the situation of "fighting for each other" and promote the industrial transformation of technological achievements.

In response to the chaos of zombie patents and dormant patents in the photovoltaic industry, Zhong Baoshen, chairman of LONGi Green Energy, put forward the "Suggestions on Further Strengthening the Capacity Building of Independent Innovation and the Development of Original Technologies in the Photovoltaic Industry" during the two sessions this year. "In the future, China's photovoltaic enterprises will no longer be able to achieve rapid development by learning and purchasing foreign advanced technology, patents and experience. Strengthening the ability of independent innovation and the development of original technology has become the key to maintaining the leading position and achieving a breakthrough in China's photovoltaic industry. Zhong Baoshen suggested that the state should focus on the original innovation of new energy technology and increase policy guidance and support in combination with the internal and external environment faced by photovoltaic enterprises.

(This article is from Yicai).