Building-Integrated Photovoltaics Patent Landscape 2026
Building-Integrated Photovoltaics Patent Landscape in 2026
The BIPV patent field is in a growth stage, with a 54% rise in recent-window filings and Dow Global Technologies holding a clear lead at 292 patent families. Activity is heavily concentrated in China and in semiconductor-device and solar-power-generation classifications, leaving adjacent building-envelope and grid-integration branches comparatively under-served.
Dow leads a moderately concentrated field with a clear tier gap below the top two
Dow Global Technologies LLC holds the top position with 292 patent families, ahead of 3M Innovative Properties Co at 173 patent families — a gap that signals a deliberate, sustained commitment to BIPV rather than opportunistic filing. LONGi Solar Tech Co Ltd ranks third at 117 patent families, marking the entry of large-volume Chinese module manufacturers into the leadership tier.
The top five filers together account for 23% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers. That share indicates a moderately concentrated structure: no single entity commands a blocking position, but the top two western incumbents and the top three Chinese manufacturers have built portfolios large enough to create meaningful freedom-to-operate considerations for new entrants.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dow Global Technologies LLC | 292 | |
| 2 | 3M Innovative Properties Co | 173 | |
| 3 | LONGi Solar Tech Co Ltd | 117 | |
| 4 | Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 94 | |
| 5 | LG Innotek Co Ltd | 84 | |
| 6 | Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) | 82 | |
| 7 | CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials Group Co Ltd | 68 | |
| 8 | Tesla Inc | 65 | |
| 9 | Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 60 | |
| 10 | Solexel Inc | 59 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Shanghai Zuqiang Energy Co Ltd | 57 | |
| 12 | Zinniatek | 54 | |
| 13 | Hereo New Energy Co Ltd | 53 | |
| 14 | Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) | 50 | |
| 15 | Trina Solar Co Ltd | 48 | |
| 16 | CNBM Chengdu Optoelectronics Material Co Ltd | 47 | |
| 17 | Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetics Co Ltd | 46 | |
| 18 | Guangzhou Zhuiguang Technology Co Ltd | 43 | |
| 19 | Samsung SDI Co Ltd | 43 | |
| 20 | Shanghai Jinko Green Energy Enterprise Management Co Ltd | 40 |
Dow’s and 3M’s positions — rooted in materials and semiconductor-device claims — suggest that encapsulant chemistry, laminate design, and cell-interconnect technology are the most heavily staked layers of the BIPV value chain. Chinese module makers such as LONGi, Jinko Solar affiliates, and Trina Solar are staking claims in installation and roofing integration, creating a complementary rather than directly overlapping competitive pressure.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are understated due to standard patent-publication lag; apparent softness in 2024–2026 data should not be read as a reversal of the growth trend. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth persists; technology mix centres on PV generation and semiconductor devices with thin coverage of envelope and grid branches
Two charts frame the field’s momentum and composition: annual filing volume from 2017 onward, and the distribution of IPC technology classes across the corpus.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew from 273 in 2017 to a peak of 842 in 2022, then eased to 834 in 2023 and 761 in 2024 — a pattern consistent with a field still expanding on a multi-year basis (54% recent-window growth) while annual volume has eased from its 2022 peak. The 2025–2026 figures of 407 and 73 respectively are heavily understated by publication lag and should not be interpreted as a downturn.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H02S (Photovoltaic / solar power generation) and H01L (Semiconductor devices) dominate the IPC mix, reflecting that core cell and module engineering remains the primary focus. Roofing (E04D), solar heat collection (F24S), building structures (E04B), and organic semiconductors (H10K) each hold smaller but distinct shares, indicating that building-envelope integration and next-generation cell chemistries are active but secondary development fronts.
↗ 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.
A building-integrated photovoltaics faÇade and sys…
Disclosed is a façade with building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) (100) comprising glazing with one or more BIPV modules (106) disposed therein The one or more BIPV modules (106) are arranged with a frame set (101, 102), such that the frame set (101, 102) incorporates an electrical distribution setup (200) for providing a safe and reliable means of… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solar array resembling natural foliage including m… | 375 |
| 2 | Photovoltaic modules with integrated devices | 360 |
| 3 | Structures for Low Cost, Reliable Solar Roofing | 340 |
| 4 | Rooftop photovoltaic systems | 320 |
| 5 | Framing system for solar panels | 285 |
| 6 | Photovoltaic module with insulating interconnect c… | 235 |
| 7 | Laminated photovoltaic cell | 179 |
| 8 | Backplane reinforcement and interconnects for sola… | 170 |
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 BIPV R&D investment decisions
Four structural observations — maturity, concentration, collaboration patterns, and geographic reach — shape where entry barriers are high and where gaps remain actionable.
Growth stage, past the 2022 filing peak
The field is classified as Growth: three-year recent filings are 54% above the prior window, confirming sustained expansion even as annual volume eased from the 2022 peak of 842 families. The technology mix remains broad across cell physics, lamination, roofing, and grid connection, consistent with a field still resolving which integration architectures will win. Entrants can still establish position before consolidation, but must contend with Dow’s and 3M’s deep materials portfolios.
Growth stageModerate concentration; materials layer most staked
The top five filers hold 23% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, a moderate level that leaves room for challengers. The tier gap between Dow (292 patent families) and the next large cluster — 3M at 173, LONGi at 117 — means that while no single player holds a monopoly position, the encapsulant and interconnect materials space requires careful freedom-to-operate analysis. Building-envelope integration claims are less densely staked, offering a relatively lower entry barrier.
Moderate concentrationCo-filing concentrated within Chinese BIPV ecosystems
The most active co-filing pair is Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd with Jinko Solar Co Ltd (51 co-filed patent families), followed by Zhejiang Jinko Solar and Shanghai Jinko Green Energy Enterprise Management (40 families). CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials co-files intensively with Kaisheng Technology Group (31 families), Bengbu Xingke Glass (10 families), and CNBM Optoelectronic Equipment Taicang (6 families). Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan) co-files with Maoxuan Energy Technology (2 families). Collaboration is largely within corporate families or national research ecosystems, not across geopolitical blocs.
China-centric co-filingChina overwhelmingly dominant; US and EPO secondary
China accounts for the largest share of patent records, followed by the United States, Europe (EPO), and WIPO (PCT). South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan each represent meaningful secondary markets. The concentration of filing activity in China reflects both the location of major module manufacturers and strong domestic BIPV policy incentives. Competitive intelligence efforts focused outside China should prioritise US, EPO, and PCT filings as proxies for global commercial intent.
China-led geographyGo 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 Solar Co Ltd | 51 |
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Shanghai Jinko Green Energy Enterprise Management Co Ltd | 40 |
| CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials Group Co Ltd | Kaisheng Technology Group Co Ltd | 31 |
| CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials Group Co Ltd | Bengbu Xingke Glass Co Ltd | 10 |
| CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials Group Co Ltd | CNBM Optoelectronic Equipment (Taicang) Co Ltd | 6 |
| Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Jinko Solar (Haining) Co Ltd | 4 |
| Beijing Zhixun Technology Co Ltd | Jiangsu Wujin Hanergy Thin-Film Solar Co Ltd | 4 |
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Jinko Solar (Haining) Co Ltd | 3 |
| CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials Group Co Ltd | Kaisheng Photovoltaic Materials Co Ltd | 3 |
| Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) | Maoxuan Energy Technology Co Ltd | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Dow and 3M lead on materials; LONGi and Jinko press on roofing and system integration
The top two western incumbents anchor their positions in semiconductor-device and laminate claims, while Chinese challengers are building out roofing-integration and module-installation portfolios at pace.
Dow Global Technologies LLC
Dow holds 292 patent families — the largest portfolio in the field — concentrated in H01L 31 (Semiconductor devices, 186 sub-filings), H02S 20, and H02S 40 (solar power generation). This materials-and-cell emphasis positions Dow as the dominant force in encapsulant and interconnect chemistry. Momentum data for Dow specifically is not broken out in the recent-trend evidence, but its scale suggests an entrenched, multi-decade commitment rather than a recent surge.
patent families: 292LG Innotek Co Ltd
LG Innotek ranks fifth overall with 84 patent families and is flagged as a new entrant in the recent filing window, with 16 recent patent families — indicating an accelerating push into BIPV from a standing start. Its technology emphasis spans H01L 31 (Semiconductor devices, 57 sub-filings), H02S 40 (solar power generation, 30), and H02M 1 (power conversion, 20), suggesting a systems-integration angle that complements its existing electronics manufacturing base. As a new entrant with rising momentum, it represents the most dynamic challenger trajectory in the current evidence.
patent families: 84| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 23 | ▼ -68% |
| LG Innotek Co Ltd | 16 | ▲ new entrant |
| CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials Group Co Ltd | 31 | ▲ +7% |
| Jinko Solar Co Ltd | 17 | ▼ -59% |
Under-served branches in solar thermal integration, building structures, and organic PV
Relative to the dominant H02S and H01L classes, several adjacent IPC branches show lower patent-record counts; three in particular combine technical proximity to BIPV with plausible entry paths.
H10K · Organic semiconductors — colour-tunable and transparent BIPV
H10K (Organic semiconductors, including OLED-related devices) carries 429 patent records — roughly one-tenth the coverage of H01L — despite direct relevance to semi-transparent and colour-tuneable BIPV glazing products that are increasingly specified in facade engineering. The branch is adjacent to existing organic-electronics R&D pipelines, so organisations with perovskite or OLED competence could transfer methods into transparent BIPV with moderate incremental investment. The sparse claim density suggests limited blocking thickets for a well-scoped filing strategy.
Search this in Eureka →H02J · Power supply and grid systems — BIPV energy management
H02J (Power supply and grid systems) holds 342 patent records against a corpus of 5,231 patent families, indicating that the grid-connection and energy-management layer of BIPV remains comparatively under-claimed. As building codes in major markets increasingly mandate on-site generation coupled with storage or demand response, the value of grid-integration IP is rising. Organisations with power-electronics or building-energy-management competence — rather than photovoltaic manufacturing — may find this branch accessible without competing directly against Dow’s or 3M’s materials portfolios.
Search this in Eureka →How leading BIPV filers differ across technology routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | H01L 31 · Semiconductor devices | H02S 20 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | H02S 40 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | E04D 13 · Roofing & roof coverings | H02S 30 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | Strong · 186 | Moderate · 93 | Moderate · 55 | Emerging · 17 | Emerging · 18 |
| Xi’an LONGi Green Energy Building Technology Co Ltd | Absent | Strong · 67 | Moderate · 25 | Strong · 51 | Moderate · 16 |
| 3M Innovative Properties Co | Strong · 152 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd | Strong · 53 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 41 |
| Tesla Inc | Absent | Strong · 44 | Strong · 32 | Absent | Moderate · 17 |
| Solexel Inc | Strong · 91 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Hereo New Energy Co Ltd | Absent | Strong · 38 | Strong · 21 | Strong · 21 | Moderate · 10 |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus in scope contains 5,231 patent families. Annual filing volume grew from 273 families in 2017 to a peak of 842 in 2022, then eased to 834 in 2023 and 761 in 2024, with 2025–2026 figures understated by publication lag.
Dow Global Technologies LLC leads with 292 patent families, concentrated in semiconductor-device (H01L 31) and solar-power-generation (H02S) classifications. 3M Innovative Properties Co is second with 173 patent families, emphasising similar semiconductor and laminate routes.
China is by far the largest filing jurisdiction in the dataset. The United States, Europe (EPO), and WIPO (PCT) are the next most active jurisdictions, followed by South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
The field is in a Growth stage. Recent three-year filings are 54% above the prior three-year window, confirming multi-year expansion. Annual volume eased from the 2022 peak, but this reflects normalisation after a rapid ramp, not a structural decline — and recent years are further understated by publication lag.
Relative to the dominant H02S and H01L classes, the adjacent branches H10K (Organic semiconductors), H02J (Power supply and grid systems), E04B (Building structures and elements), B32B (Layered products and laminates), and F24S (Solar heat collectors) each show considerably lower patent-record counts, indicating comparatively sparse claim coverage.
Co-filing activity is concentrated within Chinese corporate families: the most active pair is Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd and Jinko Solar Co Ltd (51 co-filed families), followed by Zhejiang Jinko Solar and Shanghai Jinko Green Energy Enterprise Management (40 families). CNBM Research Institute for Advanced Glass Materials co-files extensively with Kaisheng Technology Group (31 families). Cross-border or cross-bloc collaboration is not prominent in the current evidence.
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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.