Hanwha Solutions, Trina Solar agree to play nice

Solar cells at Hanwha Solutions' factory in Jincheon, North Chungcheong [SHIN HA-NEE]

Hanwha Solutions and China’s Trina Solar have brought their solar technology patent disputes to an end, with the two parties reaching business agreements and dropping legal cases against one another.

Trina Solar transferred its technology patent to Hanwha Q Cells, the solar unit of Hanwha Solutions, meaning that the Chinese company sold its patented technology to Hanwha.

At the same time, Hanwha Solutions signed a license agreement with Trina Solar for a different solar patent it holds. Trina Solar thus will be paying license fees to Hanwha Solutions when producing solar panels using Hanwha’s technology.

In October, Hanwha Q Cells filed a preliminary injunction request against Trina Solar in a German court, claiming that Trina Solar infringed Hanwha’s patent rights on its passivated emitter rear (PERC) cell technology.

The court ruled in favor of Hanwha in December, barring the Chinese company’s solar module sales in Germany.

But in January, Trina Solar filed a separate court case against Hanwha in China, this time claiming that Hanwha violated its patent rights on solar cell production technologies.

However, on Friday, Hanwha Solutions and Trina Solutions said that they agreed to drop all legal actions against each other.

Hanwha Q Cells' PERC cell technology — for which Trina Solar signed a license agreement — enhances the energy generation efficiency of a solar module by adding a reflective layer to the cell.

In September, Hanwha also won a patent validity case filed by Jinko Solar, Longi and REC Solar in the European Patent Office.

“Hanwha Q Cells' strong technological capabilities based on long periods of research and development and investment are already well known in the global market,” said Hanwha Q Cells CEO Lee Koo-yung.

“We will continue to contribute to creating a fair ground for competition in the solar sector, while leading the global solar industry with future technology development.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]