Shoals Technologies Group said on Wednesday it was awarded more than $96 million by a federal jury in Tennessee after prevailing in a patent infringement lawsuit against Voltage LLC and its China-based affiliate Ningbo Voltage Smart Production Co.
The verdict, handed down by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, found that Voltage willfully infringed Shoals’ patents covering aspects of its Big Lead Assembly technology used in solar energy systems. The court also indicated it will issue an immediate injunction barring the manufacture, distribution or sale of Voltage’s LYNX product in the United States.
The award may be subject to upward adjustment following the court’s determination of enhanced damages due to the finding of willful infringement. Shoals, which designs and manufactures electrical balance-of-systems solutions for solar, battery storage and data center applications, said the jury rejected Voltage’s challenges to the validity of its patents.
The decision follows a June ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which found that Voltage’s LYNX product infringed Shoals’ patents and barred the importation of infringing goods into the U.S. The Presidential Review Period for the ITC determination expired without presidential intervention, allowing the exclusion order to take effect.
Shoals was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Portland, Tennessee. Brandon Moss, chief executive officer, said the outcome confirms the strength of the company’s intellectual property and the importance of protecting innovations underpinning its differentiated solutions.
