BIPV Patents: Top Companies, Trends & White Space 2026
- 23.8% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees together hold 392 of the 1,646 records in scope — a real lead, not a runaway monopoly, leaving most of the field to a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filing has plateaued, not slowed. Annual filings held flat from 70 in 2021 to 70 in 2024 — a 0% three-year change — while 2025-2026 figures are still filling in under normal publication lag.
- Semiconductor claims dominate the class mix. H01L covers 57.1% of all 1,646 records and H02S covers 28.6%, meaning most protected ground sits in cell and module electronics rather than in building-envelope integration itself.
Filing growth compares 2021 (70 records) with 2024 (70) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,646 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What counts as a Building-Integrated Photovoltaics patent here
This landscape covers 1,646 published records matching claims and disclosures around building-integrated photovoltaics, solar building facades, and the underlying performance metrics — solar irradiance, cell efficiency, module temperature, and power output — that examiners and drafters use to distinguish one BIPV claim from another. The scope spans filings from 2015 through the current data cut-off, with the most recent one to two years still incomplete due to normal publication lag.
Because BIPV sits at the intersection of building materials, semiconductor devices, and grid-facing power electronics, a single filing routinely touches several IPC subclasses — a roofing patent that also claims a specific cell architecture, for instance. That overlap is real signal, not noise, and it is why the technology composition figures below sum to more than the record total.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,646-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend: growth without acceleration
Filings peaked at 105 in 2019, held near 89 in 2017, and settled into a flat plateau of 70 filings in both 2021 and 2024 — a 0% change across that span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as understated rather than declining; publication lag of roughly 18 months means the most recent years always look thinner than they will once records catch up.
Technology composition: semiconductor claims dominate
H01L (semiconductor devices) touches 57.1% of the 1,646 records and H02S (photovoltaic power generation) touches 28.6% — the two largest classes by a wide margin. Roofing (E04D, 8.5%) and solar heat collectors (F24S, 8.9%) trail well behind, which suggests most competitive pressure sits in the cell and module layer rather than in the building-envelope integration layer where BIPV's actual differentiation lives.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,646 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Building-Integrated Photovoltaics Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about building-integrated photovoltaics patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this field
Photovoltaic devices comprising luminescent solar concentrators and perovskite-based photovoltaic cells
A photovoltaic device combining a luminescent solar concentrator with a perovskite-based photovoltaic cell mounted on its external side, the perovskite selected from organometal trihalides. The filing names building-integrated photovoltaic systems and photovoltaic windows among its target applications.Filed by ENI S.p.A., published 2022-04-21 as US20220122781A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6750391B2 | Alternating current photovoltaic building block | 433 |
| 2 | US7592537B1 | Method and apparatus for mounting photovoltaic modules | 380 |
| 3 | US20090014057A1 | Photovoltaic modules with integrated devices | 363 |
| 4 | US20080302030A1 | Structures for Low Cost, Reliable Solar Roofing | 343 |
| 5 | US20090014058A1 | Rooftop photovoltaic systems | 323 |
| 6 | US20030111103A1 | Alternating current photovoltaic building block | 311 |
| 7 | US20170027168A1 | Methods, products, and systems relating to making, providing, and using nanocrystalline (NC) products compris… | 304 |
| 8 | US20070283997A1 | Photovoltaic module with integrated current collection and interconnection | 246 |
| 9 | US20070283996A1 | Photovoltaic module with insulating interconnect carrier | 236 |
| 10 | US20140330538A1 | Building integrated photovoltaic devices as smart sensors for intelligent building energy management systems | 191 |
Citation counts inside this corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial importance.
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Three figures worth sitting with before deciding where to file next.
Leadership exists but is not dominant
The leading assignee holds 133 records against a fifth-place figure of 33 and a tenth-place figure of 23 — a real gap at the very top, but nowhere near a lock on the field. Most of the 1,646 records sit with the remaining ranked entities, a pattern typical of a technology still being defined at the claim level rather than one already settled by a handful of dominant players.
A plateau, not a slowdown signal
Filing volume moved from 70 in 2021 to 70 in 2024, flat across three years after peaking at 105 in 2019. That flatness is worth reading as market settling into steady-state filing rather than retreat — especially since 2025-2026 counts are still incomplete under normal publication lag and should not be read as decline.
Foundational mounting and module patents still anchor the field
The most-cited record in scope, on alternating-current photovoltaic building blocks, carries 433 citations — well ahead of the next records on mounting structures and rooftop systems. These older filings shaped how later applicants frame module-level and mounting claims, even where the underlying cell technology has since moved on.
US and EPO carry the bulk of formal filings
The United States receiving office accounts for 558 filings, ahead of the EPO at 296 and WIPO PCT filings at 242, with China, India, and Australia trailing further behind. That distribution points to where enforceable rights are actually being sought, distinct from where R&D activity or manufacturing is concentrated.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to building-integrated photovoltaics patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The assignee ranking spans 100 companies from established materials and semiconductor firms to specialist BIPV entrants — read the gate chips below as the sub-areas that ranking leaves comparatively unclaimed.
A materials and semiconductor incumbent sets the pace
The top-ranked assignee's 133 records give it a clear lead over the field, built on a base in industrial materials and semiconductor devices that predates the current BIPV wave. Its position reflects breadth of filing across adjacent IPC classes rather than a single dominant claim.
Recent momentum sits with newer, smaller filers
Latest-year activity is thin and spread across newer names rather than concentrated in the historical leaders — several established assignees show zero filings in the latest year, while smaller and more recent entrants each register a single filing. That pattern is consistent with a maturing filing pipeline shifting toward newer specialists.
Co-filing is limited and mostly internal
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest of them link a corporate assignee to named individual inventors rather than to another company. Cross-company joint filing is rare in this field so far, suggesting most competitive advantage is still built in-house.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla Inc | 1 | — |
| NANOFLEX POWER CORP | 1 | -67% |
| SAULE SA | 1 | — |
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| 3M Innovative Properties Co | 0 | — |
| Zinniatek | 0 | — |
| GAF Energy LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace filing, or monitoring.
Map freedom-to-operate around the top-cited records
The most-cited records in this set, particularly the mounting and module-level filings, define the prior art that later claims have had to draft around. Any new filing in module mounting or rooftop integration should be checked against these first.
Explore citation network in EurekaTest claim language in the under-claimed branches
Perovskite-glass laminates and luminescent solar concentrator windows show far lower filing density than core semiconductor classes. A first, carefully drafted claim there has more room to stand without colliding with existing coverage.
Draft claims in EurekaTrack the fast-moving newer entrants
Latest-year filing activity has shifted toward newer, smaller assignees rather than the historical leaders. Watching this group closely now is cheaper than reacting after they scale their portfolios.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about the BIPV patent landscape
The assignee ranking in this dataset spans 100 companies, with the leading assignee holding 133 of the 1,646 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked entity at 33 and the tenth at 23. That gap shows real leadership at the very top, but the majority of records still sit outside the top five, spread across a long tail of smaller filers. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at the full ranking rather than assume one company controls the space.
Filing volume was flat from 2021 to 2024, moving from 70 to 70 records — a 0% change over that span, after an earlier peak of 105 filings in 2019. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than an actual drop in filing activity. Treat any apparent decline in the most recent one to two years with caution until later data catches up.
Semiconductor device claims under IPC class H01L appear in 57.1% of the 1,646 records in scope, and photovoltaic power generation claims under H02S appear in 28.6%. Roofing-specific claims (E04D) and solar heat collector claims (F24S) each cover under 9% of records, meaning most patent activity is concentrated in cell and module electronics rather than in building-envelope integration methods. That imbalance is itself useful: it marks where claim space is crowded and where it is comparatively open.
Sub-areas such as perovskite-glass laminate facades, luminescent solar concentrator windows, and grid-interactive BIPV inverters show far lower filing density than the dominant semiconductor and photovoltaic classes. These branches sit adjacent to heavily claimed core technology but have not attracted the same volume of filings. A first claim drafted specifically around one of these combinations has more room to stand without immediately colliding with existing prior art.
The most-cited record in this dataset, on alternating-current photovoltaic building blocks, carries 433 citations, ahead of mounting-structure and rooftop-system patents in the 320-380 range. High citation counts in a searched corpus tend to favour older filings that have simply had more time to accumulate references, so they signal influence on how later claims were drafted rather than current commercial relevance. Any freedom-to-operate review should still start with these records, since they shaped the vocabulary and structure of claims that followed.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.