First Solar sues JA Solar and Corning's American Panel Solutions over a TOPCon patent in Delaware

Serguey Asael Shinder06 October 2026, 09:221 min read

First Solar has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Delaware against China's JA Solar Technology, four of its affiliates, and American Panel Solutions (AMPS), a US distributor, pv magazine reported on 5 October.

The patent. The complaint asserts US Patent No. 9,130,074, which covers methods for manufacturing tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) crystalline silicon solar cells. First Solar acquired its TOPCon portfolio in 2013 when it bought TetraSun; pv magazine reports that the portfolio is protected through 2030 and beyond.

Who is sued, and why both. AMPS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning, which acquired a 2 GW module assembly plant in Arizona previously tied to JA Solar. By naming both the cell maker and a US distribution partner, First Solar is seeking damages and a permanent injunction to stop the import, assembly and sale of the disputed modules in the United States.

Change of route. In mid-September First Solar withdrew its Section 337 complaint at the US International Trade Commission and shifted to district-court litigation; the Delaware filing follows from that. It is the latest in a series of actions against crystalline-silicon makers, which have previously targeted JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar, Trina Solar and T1 Energy. According to pv magazine, neither JA Solar nor Corning and AMPS had responded at the time of its report.