South Korea-headquartered solar technology company Qcells says it has issued patent infringement notices to several unnamed ‘major global manufacturers’ for using its proprietary solar cell technology LECO without its consent.
Short for Laser Enhanced Contact Optimization, the LECO cell technology is a step in solar cell production that uses laser firing to improve the contact between the semiconductor and the silicon wafers. This has been known to enhance the solar cell efficiency. It can be used for both Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) as well as Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) technologies.
The LECO method was developed by German solar equipment manufacturing company Cell Engineering (CE) which, in collaboration with Qcells, proved the improved cell efficiency in mass production of both these mainstream technologies. Qcells acquired CE and its intellectual property rights in October 2023.
Now, Qcells wants global solar manufacturers to discontinue the manufacture, use, offer to sell, sale and marketing or import of products using LECO as it violates the South Korean company’s patents.
Qcells Global CTO Danielle Merfeld said, “Qcells does not tolerate any unlawful usage of the LECO technology, and is fully committed to defending its intellectual property rights to ensure that the solar industry can continue to pursue its research and development activities with confidence.”
The company, however, says it is open to sharing the technology exclusively under patent licensing agreements.
While it has not revealed the list of manufacturers it has written to in this regard, Qcells said it will continue its investigation to identify other manufacturers infringing on its patent and issue additional warning letters.
LECO has been a major contributor to the success of TOPCon in terms of cell efficiency. Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE, which is known to have coined the word TOPCon in 2013, calls LECO a game-changing innovation. Speaking at the recently concluded 4-day TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar Technologies 2024 Conference in December 2024, Fraunhofer ISE’s Head of Group Silicon Solar Cells Dr. Andreas Wolf shared that LECO has also enabled the use of aluminum-free pastes, a zero busbar approach, lower firing temperatures, contributing to improving TOPCon cell efficiency (see Fraunhofer ISE’s Baby TOPCon, Now Leading Solar PV Technology).
Meanwhile, the Qcells’ patent infringement call joins the ever increasing list of such lawsuits doing the rounds in the solar industry, majorly for TOPCon technology. Very recently, leading Chinese solar manufacturer JinkoSolar accused its peer LONGi Green Energy Technology of infringing on its TOPCon solar technology patents.
（Picture: Veer）
