(Reuters) – First Solar Inc said on Wednesday it had filed a complaint against Toledo Solar in an Ohio district court over allegedly selling the company’s Asian-made panels as its own under “Made in the U.S.A” labels.
The Arizona-based solar equipment maker said it was seeking an injunction to stop Toledo Solar from “falsely representing” its products and to return any profits made from the sales.
In the complaint, First Solar said that while it was installing new solar panels at the Ohio governor’s mansion in the summer of 2022, one of its employees noticed that the panels supplied by Toledo Solar featured First Solar’s unique serial numbers.
According to the serial numbers, the panels were made in First Solar’s facilities in Malaysia, the company said, adding that Toledo Solar had put its own serial number.
Ohio-based Toledo Solar did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Last year’s U.S. Inflation Reduction Act offers billions of dollars in tax incentives for facilities using American equipment to accelerate the decarbonization of the power sector while creating domestic jobs.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
