Concentrated Photovoltaics Patent Landscape 2026
Concentrated Photovoltaics Patent Landscape in 2026
The concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) patent space is moderately concentrated, with Saint Augustin Canada Electric holding the largest portfolio among ranked filers, while annual filing volume has declined from its 2017 peak. Semiconductor device engineering (H01L) dominates the technology mix, and the United States is the primary filing jurisdiction by a wide margin.
Saint Augustin Canada Electric leads a moderately concentrated field
Saint Augustin Canada Electric holds the top position in the applicant ranking, followed closely by AZUR Space Solar Power and Sumitomo Electric Industries. The top five filers account for 26% of the combined total among the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate rather than extreme concentration.
The gap between the first and second ranked applicants is meaningful but not dominant; the top tier comprises several European, North American, and Japanese players competing across overlapping technology routes, with no single entity controlling the field outright.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint Augustin Canada Electric | 179 | |
| 2 | AZUR Space Solar Power | 120 | |
| 3 | Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd | 119 | |
| 4 | Ouraring Inc | 113 | |
| 5 | Brilliant Light Power Inc | 92 | |
| 6 | Morgan Solar Inc | 84 | |
| 7 | French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) | 72 | |
| 8 | The Boeing Company | 57 | |
| 9 | International Business Machines Corporation | 55 | |
| 10 | Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH | 49 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Insolight SA | 49 | |
| 12 | Skyline Solar Inc | 49 | |
| 13 | Soitec SA | 40 | |
| 14 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | 40 | |
| 15 | SunPower Inc | 38 | |
| 16 | Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona) | 38 | |
| 17 | Zhongshan Dehua Chip Technology Co Ltd | 37 | |
| 18 | SolFocus Inc | 37 | |
| 19 | Tulane University | 36 | |
| 20 | Solexel Inc | 34 |
The positions held by Saint Augustin Canada Electric and AZUR Space Solar Power, both deeply focused on semiconductor device engineering, suggest that multi-junction cell efficiency and photovoltaic system integration remain the core battlegrounds for portfolio building in this space.
Patent publication typically lags filing by 18–24 months, so activity in 2024–2026 is materially under-counted in the current dataset; the apparent low volume in the most recent periods should not be interpreted as further decline beyond the established trend.
Filing volume has contracted from a 2017 peak; semiconductor devices dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that peaked in 2017 and has since contracted, while the technology composition chart shows that semiconductor device engineering (H01L) commands the largest share of activity, with photovoltaic system generation (H02S) and solar heat collectors (F24S) as secondary branches.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings reached their highest recorded level in 2017 and have trended downward since, settling into a range well below peak levels by the early 2020s. The 2025–2026 data points are subject to significant publication lag and should be treated as floors rather than final counts.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (semiconductor devices) is by far the most active IPC class, reflecting CPV’s dependence on high-efficiency multi-junction cell development. H02S (photovoltaic/solar power generation) and F24S (solar heat collectors) form a secondary tier, while G02B (optical elements and systems) represents a meaningful but smaller branch covering concentrating optics.
↗ 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.
Infrared transmissive concentrated photovoltaics f…
The use of photovoltaic (PV) cells to convert solar energy to electricity is becoming increasingly prevalent; however, there are still significant limitations associated with the widespread adoption of PV cells for electricity needs. There is a clear need for a high efficiency solar power system that supplies electricity at a competitive cost and that… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pool solar power generator | 729 |
| 2 | Pool solar power generator | 578 |
| 3 | Pool solar power generator | 299 |
| 4 | Photovoltaic system power tracking method | 249 |
| 5 | Systems for cost-effective concentration and utili… | 228 |
| 6 | Structures and methods for high efficiency compoun… | 203 |
| 7 | Arrays of Ultrathin Silicon Solar Microcells | 176 |
| 8 | Electrical power generation systems and methods re… | 174 |
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 CPV patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a declining filing trend, moderate top-tier concentration, and a semiconductor-heavy technology mix shapes the strategic context for any organization evaluating entry or expansion in CPV.
Field is in decline from its 2017 peak
The lifecycle stage is assessed as Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2017 peak. This signals that the mainstream CPV architecture — concentrating optics feeding multi-junction cells — has reached a phase where incremental patents are decreasing. R&D investment should target differentiated sub-routes rather than the crowded core, unless a team has a defensible efficiency or cost advance.
Lifecycle: DeclineModerate concentration with a competitive mid-tier
The top five filers hold 26% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, leaving substantial room for challengers in the mid-tier. AZUR Space Solar Power, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Morgan Solar each hold substantial portfolios and occupy distinct niches — space-grade cells, system integration, and concentrating optics respectively — meaning differentiation by sub-route is both possible and necessary for new entrants.
Moderate concentrationCross-institutional co-filing anchors two key partnerships
The most active co-filing pairs are Saint Augustin Canada Electric with Grenzebach Maschinenbau (13 joint filings) and IBM with the Egypt Nanotechnology Center (13 joint filings). The French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) co-files with Soitec (11 filings), reflecting a materials-to-device vertical collaboration. IBM also co-files with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (6 filings), indicating government-lab partnerships in the Middle East. These relationships suggest that manufacturing-scale and materials-supply chain integration are active co-development fronts.
Cross-sector co-filingUS-centric filings with meaningful PCT and China coverage
The United States is the dominant filing jurisdiction at the patent-record level, followed by China, WIPO PCT, and the European Patent Office. Germany and Japan are secondary national offices with equal representation. India and Australia also appear as notable destinations, suggesting applicants are seeking protection in both established and emerging solar deployment markets. South Korea and the UK show thinner coverage, representing possible gaps for selective national filings.
US-led, global reachGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Augustin Canada Electric Inc | Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH | 13 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | Egypt Nanotechnology Center | 13 |
| French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) | Soitec SA | 11 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology | 6 |
| Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd | Sumitomo Electric Printed Circuits Inc | 2 |
| French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) | Arkema France SA | 1 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | IBM China Co Ltd | 1 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | IBM DEUTSCHLAND GMBH | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
AZUR Space and Saint Augustin lead; Brilliant Light Power shows the sharpest recent momentum
The top two ranked applicants both anchor their portfolios in semiconductor device engineering, but AZUR Space Solar Power’s recent filing momentum has dropped sharply, while newer entrants are driving the most active recent filing activity.
AZUR Space Solar Power
AZUR Space Solar Power holds the second-largest portfolio among ranked filers and is the most focused applicant in the corpus, with its activity concentrated almost entirely in H01L 31 (semiconductor devices for photovoltaics), supplemented by a small optical elements component. Recent momentum has fallen sharply (trend: ▼ –89%), suggesting the company’s filing program has materially contracted in the most recent measurable period — a signal worth monitoring for portfolio freshness.
patent records: 120Brilliant Light Power
Brilliant Light Power ranks fifth overall and is the strongest momentum story in the dataset, with recent filings up 123% versus the prior period. Its technology focus spans H02S 10 (photovoltaic power generation systems), H05H 1 (plasma and particle accelerators), and C25B 1 (electrolytic production of compounds) — a profile that is distinct from the semiconductor-device mainstream and suggests a non-conventional energy conversion approach being pursued through photovoltaic-adjacent claims.
patent records: 92| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| AZUR Space Solar Power | 4 | ▼ -89% |
| Ouraring Inc | 33 | ▲ new entrant |
| Brilliant Light Power Inc | 29 | ▲ +123% |
| Saint Augustin Canada Electric | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) | 10 | ▲ new entrant |
| The Boeing Company | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Optical systems, grid integration, and digital processing are under-served relative to the cell-device core
Against the dominant H01L semiconductor-device core, several IPC branches sit at materially lower activity levels, pointing to areas where the existing patent thicket is thinner. The following observations highlight the most technically adjacent of these sparse branches; they are observations of relative sparsity, not validated market opportunities.
G02B · Optical elements and concentrating systems
G02B (optical elements and systems) accounts for a substantially smaller share of corpus activity compared to H01L, despite concentrating optics being a foundational CPV subsystem. The gap suggests that novel lens array geometries, freeform concentrators, and micro-optic light guides for flat-panel CPV may offer room for differentiated filing. Realistic entry paths include collaboration with optical design houses or leveraging computational optics tools to generate patentable geometries not yet covered by existing filings.
Search this in Eureka →H02J · Power supply and grid integration systems
H02J (power supply and grid systems) appears at a significantly lower activity level than the cell and optics branches, even though CPV systems require sophisticated DC-AC conversion, maximum power point tracking, and grid-tie management specific to their high-irradiance operating profiles. This branch may be under-served because CPV applicants file power-electronics claims under H02S rather than H02J. An entrant focusing on CPV-specific inverter topologies or hybrid CPV-storage grid interfaces could find relatively open 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 | F24S 23 · Solar heat collectors | H02S 20 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | F24J 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Solar Inc | Strong · 102 | Moderate · 28 | Moderate · 40 | Absent | Emerging · 12 |
| Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd | Strong · 94 | Moderate · 46 | Absent | Moderate · 39 | Absent |
| Saint Augustin Canada Electric Inc | Strong · 87 | Moderate · 19 | Absent | Moderate · 18 | Emerging · 16 |
| Skyline Solar Inc | Strong · 51 | Absent | Strong · 47 | Absent | Strong · 28 |
| AZUR Space Solar Power | Strong · 119 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Ouraring Inc | Absent | Strong · 96 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| International Business Machines Corporation | Strong · 50 | Moderate · 21 | Moderate · 20 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 1,090 patent families in concentrated photovoltaics. The United States is the leading filing jurisdiction at the patent-record level.
Saint Augustin Canada Electric holds the largest portfolio among ranked applicants, followed by AZUR Space Solar Power and Sumitomo Electric Industries.
No. The lifecycle stage is assessed as Decline, with annual filings having eased back from a 2017 peak. The most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and are under-counted, but the multi-year downward trend is established.
H01L (semiconductor devices) is the dominant IPC class, reflecting the centrality of multi-junction photovoltaic cell engineering. H02S (photovoltaic/solar power generation) and F24S (solar heat collectors) form a secondary tier, with G02B (optical elements and systems) representing the concentrating-optics branch.
Brilliant Light Power shows the strongest upward momentum among established filers, with recent filings up 123% versus the prior period. OURARING INC and Saint Augustin Canada Electric (a related entity) appear as new entrants in the most recent window. By contrast, AZUR Space Solar Power’s recent filing rate has declined 89%.
The most active co-filing pairs are Saint Augustin Canada Electric with Grenzebach Maschinenbau (13 joint filings) and IBM with the Egypt Nanotechnology Center (13 joint filings). The French Atomic Energy Commission co-files with Soitec in 11 joint filings, reflecting a materials-to-device vertical partnership.
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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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