Month in a Minute: Top Headlines from the Indian Renewable Sector in January 2026

KP Energy, Waaree, and Vena Energy Among Winners of SECI’s 1.2 GW Wind Auction

Punjab’s Draft Amendments Aim to Liberalize Rooftop Solar Framework

Loom Solar Launches BESS Scalable Up to 1 MWh for C&I Consumers

Ola Electric Begins Deliveries of Residential Battery Energy Storage Systems

IEX Electricity Volumes Rise 19.6% YoY to Record 13,050 MU in January

Atlanta Wins ₹2.88 Billion Transformer Orders from KPTCL, Datta Power

Daily News Wrap-Up: CSERC Clarifies DSM Charges for Open Access Consumers

Solar PPA Prices Rise 9% YoY in North America While Europe Falls 8%

Europe’s Power Market Reprices as Renewables Reshape Value: Pexapark


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					</table><p>The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (<a href="https://www.uspto.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USPTO</a>) director has denied three separate inter partes review applications filed by <a href="https://www.jinkosolar.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JinkoSolar</a>, Mundra Solar, and <a href="https://www.canadiansolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian Solar</a> in 2025, seeking to invalidate <a href="https://www.firstsolar.com/en-IN/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">First Solar</a>’s technology patents, covering methods of manufacturing TOPCon crystalline silicon solar cells.</p>
<p>The applications filed by the three companies were declined on November 20, 2025, and December 11 and 18, 2025, respectively.</p>
<p>First Solar stated that it has pending lawsuits against the three applicants in the Delaware District Court, alleging infringement of its patents.</p>
<p>The company added that the USPTO’s decision was consistent with the ‘settled expectations’ doctrine. Under this doctrine, the patent owner’s expectations will depend on how long a patent has been in force.</p>
<p>First Solar said the patents at issue with its USPTO were issued in 2015 and 2017, respectively, well before the three companies filed their applications.</p>
<p>First Solar received the U.S. TOPCon patents and their international counterparts through its 2013 acquisition of TetraSun. The company also obtained patents for its TOPCon technology in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union (EU), Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Vietnam. The validity of these patents extends to at least 2030.</p>
<p>Additionally, First Solar has pending patent applications with the EU, Japan, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Vietnam.</p>
<p>First Solar announced its plans to license and enforce its TOPCon technology patent portfolio and initiate the infringement investigations against multiple leading crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturers in 2024.</p>
<p>As the solar industry <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/patent-disputes-soar-topcon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitions</a> from Mono PERC to TOPCon technology and countries emphasize domestic manufacturing, there has been a surge in intellectual property disputes related to TOPCon solar recently, particularly in China, Europe, and the U.S.</p>
<p>Earlier, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the USPTO <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-patent-board-invalidates-maxeons-topcon-patent-claims-against-canadian-solar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">determined</a> that the claims of patent infringement by Singapore-based solar solutions provider Maxeon Solar Technologies against Canadian Solar are invalid.</p>


US Patent Board Declines Applications Against First Solar’s TOPCon Patents


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					</table><p>Europe and Japan accounted for 28% and 24% of global patents for hydrogen production technologies between 2011 and 2020, a report by the International Energy Agency (<u><a href="https://www.iea.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IEA</a></u>) has said.</p>
<p>Further, the report said that startups with patents cornered more than half of the $10 billion venture capital investment into hydrogen companies worldwide during this period.</p>
<p>Over 80% of late-stage investment in hydrogen startups during 2011-2020 went to companies that had already applied for patents in areas like electrolysis, fuel cells, or low-emission methods to produce H2 from gas.</p>
<p>The patenting data revealed that low-emission innovations generated over twice the International Patent Families (IPF) across all segments of the hydrogen value chain compared to the already established technologies.</p>
<p><strong>Europe’s focus on manufacturing </strong></p>
<p>The European Union has focussed on both acquiring patents and strengthening manufacturing capacity. With significant advancements in the areas of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer and alkaline technologies, European chemical companies specialize in the production and handling of hydrogen from fossil fuels.</p>
<div id="attachment_47770" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47770" class="wp-image-47770 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Picture1-7.png" alt="Figure 1Share of IPFs in various stages of hydrogen development (Source: IEA)" width="602" height="417" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Picture1-7.png 602w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Picture1-7-300x208.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Picture1-7-600x416.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px" /><p id="caption-attachment-47770" class="wp-caption-text">Share of IPFs in various stages of hydrogen development (Source: IEA)</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>While Germany acquired 11% of the global IPFs during 2011-2020, France acquired 6% and the Netherlands acquired 3%.</p>
<p>To support research, innovation, and the first industrial deployment of the hydrogen value chain in Europe, 13 European member states are <a href="https://mercomindia.com/europes-project-e5-2-billion-develop-hydrogen-chain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">providing</a> public funding of €5.2 billion (~$5.12 billion) to unlock an additional €7 billion (~$7 billion) in private investments.</p>
<p>The global electrolyzer market is expected to rise from 1 GW currently to over 65 GW per year by 2030 under announced government pledges. Europe apart, Japan acquired most patents for alkaline and cutting-edge PEM technologies during 2011-2020. However, these technologies await investments in manufacturing capacity.</p>
<p><strong>U.S. lagging in innovation</strong></p>
<p>The U.S. led in developing PEM manufacturing capacity, but is comparatively slower in innovation, given the reduced number of patents it applied for during the period. There has been a 20% decline in IPFs in the U.S. with the country covering 20% of all hydrogen-related patents.</p>
<p>South Korea and China are the two other countries where patenting for electrolyzer technologies gained momentum, with heavy investments in manufacturing capacities.</p>
<p>The report tracks that the IPFs related to water splitting technology via non-electrolyte methods have also decreased since 2010 and represented 12% of the total IPFs published in the field of electrolysis, in 2020. Patenting in H2 production from biomass or waste increased sharply between 2007 and 2011, but has dropped significantly since then, the report found.</p>
<p>IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol observed, “Hydrogen from low-emissions sources can play an important role in clean energy transitions with the potential to replace fossil fuels in industries where few clean alternatives exist, like long-haul transport and fertilizer production. This study shows that innovators are responding to the need for competitive hydrogen supply chains, but also identifies areas – particularly among end-users – where more effort is required.”</p>
<p><strong>Patents increase among automotive players </strong></p>
<p>Of all the segments competing to acquire a patent, automotive companies realized the importance of on-board hydrogen storage to boost the commercialization of hydrogen-powered vehicles. The</p>
<p>Patenting for long-distance transportation of hydrogen increased rapidly during the period, with compound average growth rates (CAGR) of 12.5% for liquid organic hydrocarbons (LOHC), and 7.8% for ammonia cracking.</p>
<p>In October last year, Amazon said it would <a href="https://mercomindia.com/amazon-to-invest-1-euro-billion-to-decarbonize-its-transport-network-in-europe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invest</a> more than €1 billion (~$973 million) until 2027 to electrify and decarbonize the transportation network across Europe.</p>
<p>India also approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission recently with an initial outlay of ₹197.44 billion (~$2.3 billion). The production target set by the government until 2030 is likely to <a href="https://mercomindia.com/green-hydrogen-mission-to-attract-investment-by-2030/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leverage</a> over ₹8 trillion (~$96.5 billion) in investments while creating more than 600,000 jobs.</p>


Europe Acquired Most Global Patents for Hydrogen Tech During 2011-20

<p>Electric scooter (E2W) manufacturer <a href="http://www.lordsauto.com/index.html">Lords Automotive</a> has acquired a 100% stake in Ahmedabad-based <a href="https://devamev.com/">Devam Electric Vehicles</a>, manufacturers of e-rickshaws, and e-autos (E3W). Through this acquisition, Lords Automotive will take over Devam Electric Vehicles’ assets and patents.</p>
<p>The acquisition will also allow Lords Automotive, a subsidiary of <a href="https://lordsmark.com/">Lord’s Mark Industries</a>, to make use of advanced technological solutions to design and manufacture electric vehicles (EV). The company will also strengthen its manufacturing capacities across India with access to a broader original equipment manufacturers base.</p>
<p>Lords Automotive will redesign Devam Electric’s current e-rickshaw model and relaunch it in October 2021. The acquisition is in line with Lords Automotive’s strategy to increase its domestic market share and expand its product outreach in untapped European and African markets early next year.</p>
<p>“With this acquisition, we aim to expand our domestic and international market share in the e-vehicle segment and strengthen India’s position as a global manufacturing and distribution hub of hybrid and plug-in vehicles,” stated Sachidanand Upadhyay, Founder, Lord’s Mark Industries.</p>
<p>Lords Automotive makes electric scooters under the brand Zoom and sells them through a pan-India dealer network. The company currently has two slow-speed electric scooter models, which have been certified by the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT).</p>
<p>The firm plans to launch two high-speed electric scooter models. The first in the series is a 120 km range EV capable of achieving a top speed of 120 kmph, while the second one is a sports model with an 80 km range and a top speed of 140 kmph. The company has also developed an electric vintage car, which is slated for launch in January 2022.</p>
<p>In June this year, Ashok Leyland had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-ashok-leyland/">announced</a> that Switch Mobility Limited, UK – subsidiary of the company – has acquired the entire shareholding in Switch Mobility Automotive, India. As a result, Switch Mobility Automotive, India, has become a step-down subsidiary of Ashok Leyland. Switch Mobility Automotive Limited was incorporated on December 28, 2020, to carry on the manufacture and sale of EVs.</p>
<p>Last year, <a href="https://amperevehicles.com/">Ampere Vehicle</a>, an electric mobility subsidiary of Indian heavy equipment manufacturer Greaves Cotton Limited, announced the acquisition of a 74% stake in <a href="https://bestway-agency-pvt-ltd-ele-erickshaw.business.site/">Bestway Agencies Private Limited</a>. Bestway is a Noida-based e-rickshaw manufacturer that sells under the brand name ELE.</p>


Lords Automotive Acquires 100% Stake in Devam Electric Vehicles

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