Bifacial Solar Module Patent Landscape 2026
Bifacial Solar Module Patent Landscape in 2026
The bifacial solar module IP field reached peak annual filing volume around 2020 and has since eased, with the most recent years under-counted due to publication lag. Activity is moderately fragmented at the top, with NextPower LLC leading among 100-plus filers and the United States as the dominant filing jurisdiction.
NextPower LLC leads a moderately fragmented field
NextPower LLC holds the top position among ranked applicants, followed closely by Soltec Innovations SL and Jinko Solar Co Ltd, each with 18 patent families. Watershed Solar LLC and Sun Terra Ltd round out the top five.
The top five filers account for 22% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating moderate concentration — no single entity dominates, and the gap between the leader and the second tier is narrow.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NextPower LLC | 21 | |
| 2 | Soltec Innovations SL | 18 | |
| 3 | Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 18 | |
| 4 | Watershed Solar LLC | 17 | |
| 5 | Sun Terra Ltd | 16 | |
| 6 | Watershed Geosynthetics LLC | 15 | |
| 7 | Balder Energy SLU | 13 | |
| 8 | Electricité de France | 13 | |
| 9 | BASF Coatings GmbH | 12 | |
| 10 | Borealis AG | 10 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Borealis GmbH | 10 | |
| 12 | LONGi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd | 10 | |
| 13 | Pilkington Group Ltd | 9 | |
| 14 | REC Solar Pte Ltd | 9 | |
| 15 | Saudi Aramco | 9 | |
| 16 | Hanwha Q Cells GmbH | 9 | |
| 17 | Maxeon Solar Pte Ltd | 8 | |
| 18 | Nextracker Inc | 7 | |
| 19 | CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) | 7 | |
| 20 | Institut Photovoltaïque d’Ile de France (IPVF) | 7 |
The spread of activity across specialists (NextPower, Watershed Solar), Chinese manufacturers (Jinko Solar, LONGi Green Energy), and European players (Soltec Innovations, Balder Energy, Electricité de France) signals a genuinely international competitive field with no single national bloc controlling the agenda.
Filing counts for 2023–2025 are subject to publication lag and should be treated as lower bounds; the apparent recent dip does not necessarily reflect a real-world slowdown in R&D investment. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2020; core photovoltaic classes dominate the technology mix
Two charts together show the pace of IP creation over time and the IPC class distribution that reveals where technical effort is concentrated and where gaps exist.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings climbed sharply from 10 in 2017 to a peak of 76 in 2020, then eased to the 60–70 range through 2022 before falling in 2023–2025. The 2023–2025 counts are substantially under-reported due to patent publication lag and should not be read as a confirmed decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H02S (photovoltaic / solar power generation) and H01L (semiconductor devices) dominate the corpus by a wide margin. Secondary classes — B32B (layered products), F24S (solar heat collectors), H10F (photovoltaic and light-sensitive devices), and H02J (power supply and grid systems) — each represent a small share, pointing to areas where coverage is thin relative to the core.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Bifacial photovoltaic module, single axis solar tr…
Solar trackers are designed to withstand high wind loads, eventually by oversizing the structure and incurring in higher material cost and rendering high costs scenarios when deploying solar trackers in solar fields. A solar tracker and a method for operating the solar tracker yields a solution highly structured solar trackers by providing a single… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transparent photovoltaic module | 313 |
| 2 | Bifacial cell with extruded gridline metallization | 123 |
| 3 | Solar Module | 96 |
| 4 | Bifacial photovoltaic module using heterojunction … | 59 |
| 5 | Transparent photovoltaic module | 40 |
| 6 | Hole-thru-laminate mounting supports for photovolt… | 34 |
| 7 | Integrated photovoltaic module mounting system for… | 32 |
| 8 | Systems and methods for providing solar-powered ad… | 31 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural dimensions — maturity stage, concentration, collaboration ecosystem, and geography — each carry distinct implications for where new IP investment is likely to generate differentiated returns.
Post-peak, consolidating phase
The lifecycle stage is Decline, with annual filings having eased back from the 2020 peak. The multi-year window still shows substantial accumulated IP, but the rate of new family creation has moderated. Entrants now face a crowded core and should target differentiated sub-domains rather than replicating dominant H02S or H01L filings.
Lifecycle: DeclineModerate fragmentation; narrow leader gap
The top five filers hold 22% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — moderate concentration but with no dominant fortress. The gap between NextPower LLC (21 patent families) and the second-ranked pair at 18 each is small, meaning challenger positions are contestable. Mid-tier entrants with focused filing strategies can realistically enter the top ten.
Top-5 share: 22%French energy consortium and Jinko entities are the most active co-filers
The most active co-filing pair is Zhejiang Jinko Solar and Jinko Green Energy (Shanghai) Management with 24 joint patent families, reflecting an intra-group coordination strategy. A distinct French consortium links TotalEnergies, Electricité de France, CNRS, École Polytechnique, and IPVF — each pair sharing 7 joint families — suggesting a coordinated public-private research program. Nextracker and NextPower LLC share 8 joint families, signalling a hardware-software alignment strategy.
Key consortia identifiedUS and EPO lead; Asia-Pacific and MENA are secondary fronts
The United States is the top filing jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT). Australia ranks fourth, likely reflecting strong large-scale solar deployment. Germany, India, and South Korea form a secondary tier. China — the world’s largest bifacial module manufacturer — shows surprisingly low patent-record counts here, suggesting that leading Chinese producers may be filing primarily domestically in ways not fully captured in this corpus.
Lead office: United StatesGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Jinko Green Energy (Shanghai) Management Co Ltd | 24 |
| Nextracker LLC | NextPower LLC | 8 |
| TotalEnergies | Electricité de France | 7 |
| TotalEnergies | CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) | 7 |
| TotalEnergies | École Polytechnique | 7 |
| TotalEnergies | Institut Photovoltaïque d’Ile de France (IPVF) | 7 |
| Electricité de France | CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) | 7 |
| Electricité de France | École Polytechnique | 7 |
| Electricité de France | Institut Photovoltaïque d’Ile de France (IPVF) | 7 |
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 5 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
NextPower and Jinko Solar anchor different technology routes
The leader table spans specialists, trackers, and vertically integrated module makers. Momentum data show a general pullback from peak-era filing rates, with a handful of newer entrants bucking the trend.
NextPower LLC
NextPower LLC leads with 21 patent families, concentrated across H02S 20, H02S 30, and H02S 40 — covering module installation, mounting, and balance-of-system topics. Its momentum trend shows a 62% decline in recent filings versus the prior period, consistent with the field-wide post-peak easing. A co-filing relationship with Nextracker LLC (8 joint families) suggests a tracker-integration focus.
families: 21Jinko Solar Co Ltd
Jinko Solar Co Ltd holds 18 patent families, with its affiliated entities Zhejiang Jinko Solar and Jinko Green Energy (Shanghai) Management each adding 10 and contributing 24 joint families through intra-group co-filing. Their technology focus is firmly in H01L 31 (semiconductor device physics), reflecting cell-level and module-level photovoltaic design. Recent momentum shows a 91% decline from the prior period, signalling a shift away from active filing in this corpus.
families: 18| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Watershed Solar LLC | 5 | ▼ -62% |
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 2 | ▼ -91% |
| Jinko Green Energy (Shanghai) Management Co Ltd | 2 | ▼ -91% |
| Nextracker Inc | 1 | ▼ -94% |
| Soltec Innovations SL | 2 | ▼ -87% |
| Nextracker LLC | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| Sun Terra Ltd | 16 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant photovoltaic core
Several IPC classes appear alongside the dominant H02S and H01L branches but carry relatively few patent families, suggesting areas where incremental IP effort could face less crowding. These observations reflect relative sparsity and should be assessed against commercial viability before treating them as investment targets.
H02J · Power supply and grid systems
Only 16 patent records fall under H02J despite bifacial modules’ growing role in grid-tied and hybrid systems where power management and storage integration are critical. The technical gap between module output optimization and grid interconnection hardware is real, and the relatively thin filing activity here suggests that inverter-level and grid-integration IP tied specifically to bifacial gain profiles is an under-served area worth examining.
Search this in Eureka →E02D · Foundations and earth drilling
With only 15 patent records, E02D — covering ground anchoring and foundation structures — is sparse relative to the volume of large-scale bifacial ground-mount deployments that depend on optimized pile and ballast design for rear-face irradiance. Agrivoltaic and floating solar installations add further structural complexity. An applicant with civil engineering or geotechnical capability could find differentiated space here.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | H01L 31 · Semiconductor devices | H02S 40 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | H02S 20 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | H02S 30 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | H02S 50 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watershed Solar LLC | Strong · 15 | Strong · 16 | Strong · 28 | Strong · 27 | Absent |
| Nextracker Inc | Strong · 14 | Strong · 13 | Strong · 13 | Absent | Absent |
| Soltec Innovations SL | Strong · 10 | Absent | Strong · 16 | Absent | Absent |
| Jinko Green Energy (Shanghai) Management Co Ltd | Strong · 24 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Strong · 24 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Nextracker LLC | Absent | Strong · 12 | Strong · 9 | Absent | Absent |
| BASF Coatings GmbH | Strong · 12 | Strong · 7 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The evidence corpus contains 384 patent families in scope for bifacial solar modules, representing activity across more than 25 jurisdictions.
NextPower LLC leads the applicant ranking with 21 patent families. Soltec Innovations SL and Jinko Solar Co Ltd each hold 18 patent families, placing them jointly in second position.
The United States is the top filing jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT). Australia ranks fourth, with Germany, India, and South Korea forming a secondary tier.
The field is assessed as being in a Decline stage, with annual filings having eased back from a peak of 76 in 2020. Recent-year counts (2023–2025) are subject to publication lag and should be treated as lower bounds.
The most active co-filing partnership is between Zhejiang Jinko Solar and Jinko Green Energy (Shanghai) Management, with 24 joint patent families. A French public-private consortium linking TotalEnergies, Electricité de France, CNRS, École Polytechnique, and IPVF shares 7 joint families per pair. Nextracker and NextPower LLC share 8 joint families.
H02J (power supply and grid systems) and E02D (foundations and earth drilling) each carry 16 and 15 patent records respectively, making them among the least densely filed adjacent branches relative to the dominant H02S and H01L classes. B32B (layered products) and F24S (solar heat collectors) are also comparatively thin at 29 records each.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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