Markets & Policy

It’s settled: GCL-Poly resolves legal dispute with Solaria

Intellectual Property claim filed by U.S. firm Solaria against GCL-Solar in September 2016 has been resolved on mutually agreeable terms, GCL-Poly said. Exact details of the settlement were not disclosed.
By
Ian Clover
GCL PV installation
Image: GCL-SI

Chinese conglomerate GCL-Poly has reached a ‘mutually agreeable’ resolution to an intellectual property (IP) lawsuit filed last September (Sept. 9 2016) in California by U.S. solar firm Solaria.

The allegation by Solaria was that GCL Solar Energy Inc., a subsidiary of GCL-Poly Energy, stole trade secrets from Solaria and thus exercised unfair competition – using confidential Solaria technological information to develop their own shingled solar modules.

Such activity would have been a violation of a non-disclosure agreement dating from 2014, when the two firms first collaborated.

When the case was first brought last year, GCL-Poly responded that the lawsuit was “without merit”. This week’s settlement – executed under strict confidentiality – should nevertheless draw a line under the litigation procedures, GCL-Poly stated.

The dispute was related to Solaria’s zero white space modules, as well as the connection process that enables busbarless cell technology. In total, Solaria has more than 100 patents for its PV technology.

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