Perovskite PCE Enhancement Patent Landscape 2026
Filing activity in perovskite power-conversion efficiency enhancement has expanded rapidly, with the field showing 716% growth over the measured window and China accounting for the largest share of filings by jurisdiction. The competitive field is fragmented at the top, with the two leading applicants — Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) and City University of Hong Kong — tied for first place, while the top five filers collectively hold only 17% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, signaling that no single player has locked up the space.
A fragmented, fast-growing field with no dominant lock-in
Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited and City University of Hong Kong share the top rank with 15 patent families each, followed by Trina Solar (8), Xi’an TJ-Solar New Energy (7), Saule SA (7), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (7), and Imperial College Innovations (7).
The top five filers account for only 17% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a wide-open competitive landscape without entrenched leaders. Both industrial players and academic institutions occupy the upper tiers, reflecting the field’s continued dependence on basic research.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited | 15 | |
| 2 | City University of Hong Kong | 15 | |
| 3 | Trina Solar Co Ltd | 8 | |
| 4 | Xi’an TJ-Solar New Energy Co Ltd | 7 | |
| 5 | Saule SA | 7 | |
| 6 | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 7 | |
| 7 | Imperial College Innovations Ltd | 7 | |
| 8 | Nanyang Technological University | 6 | |
| 9 | Hanwha Solutions Corp | 6 | |
| 10 | National Institute of Technology Patna | 6 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | William Marsh Rice University | 6 | |
| 12 | Global Frontier Center for Multiscale Energy Systems | 5 | |
| 13 | Tongwei Solar Energy (Chengdu) Co Ltd | 5 | |
| 14 | Nanofilm Technologies International Ltd | 5 | |
| 15 | Sinopec (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co Ltd | 5 | |
| 16 | Nankai University | 5 | |
| 17 | CHINA PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL CORP | 5 | |
| 18 | Chongqing University | 5 | |
| 19 | RES & BUSINESS FOUND SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIV | 5 | |
| 20 | Swansea University | 4 |
The shared leadership between a battery-focused energy company and a university underscores a pattern seen across the ranking: commercial entrants are filing alongside, rather than displacing, research institutions. This creates risk and opportunity — the technology frontier is still being defined, and incumbency advantages are limited.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are likely under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; the full competitive picture for 2024–2026 will become clearer as those applications publish. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual filings still rising; organic semiconductor devices dominate the technology mix
Two signals stand out in the data: a sharp multi-year acceleration in filing volume since 2021, and an overwhelming concentration of patents in the H10K organic-semiconductor class. Together they define both the pace and the technical character of the field.
Annual filing trend
Annual families grew from near zero before 2019 to 88 in 2023, with 2025 the highest single-year count on record at 108. The 2026 figure of 13 reflects publication lag rather than a slowdown; the growth trajectory remains intact on a multi-year basis. The 716% growth figure captures the full measured window.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H10K (organic semiconductors, including perovskite device structures) accounts for the large majority of records, signaling that most innovation targets the device stack itself — charge-transport layers, absorber engineering, and interface design. Adjacent branches such as C07D (heterocyclic compounds), B82Y (nanotechnology), H01G (capacitors), C07F (organo-metallic compounds), and C07C (acyclic compounds) each appear at much lower frequency, pointing to under-served angles in molecular additive chemistry and nanomaterial integration.
↗ 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.
Phenanthroline-based compound, method of preparing…
Provided are a phenanthroline-based compound, a method of preparing the same, and a perovskite solar cell including the same. The phenanthroline-based compound may be formed as a uniform layer even by a solution process due to its low average surface roughness (root mean square, RMS) and excellent processability. When a layer having the phenanthroline-based… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perovskite solar cell and manufacturing method the… | 25 |
| 2 | Lead halide adduct compound and perovskite element… | 14 |
| 3 | Planar perovskite solar cells containing semicondu… | 14 |
| 4 | Planar mixed-metal perovskite for optoelectronic a… | 10 |
| 5 | 一种钙钛矿太阳能电池及其制备方法 | 8 |
| 6 | Method of making a perovskite solar cell using a n… | 8 |
| 7 | Perovskite solar battery and method for producing … | 8 |
| 8 | 一种制备钙钛矿薄膜的装置和方法及钙钛矿太阳能电池组件 | 6 |
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 patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural dimensions — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — shape the risk and opportunity profile for new entrants and incumbents alike.
Growth stage: annual filings still rising
The lifecycle evidence classifies this field as Growth, with annual filings still rising and the most recent years understated by publication lag. This means the competitive map is still being drawn — there is genuine room to build a defensible position, but window risk is rising as corporate filers accelerate. Research-to-patent cycles are shortening as commercial players enter alongside universities.
Growth stageFragmented top tier — no dominant assignee
The top five filers hold only 17% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, and the top two applicants are tied at 15 patent families each. This low concentration means cross-licensing leverage is limited and freedom-to-operate is relatively broad today. However, the presence of well-funded industrials such as Contemporary Amperex Technology alongside academic licensors such as Imperial College Innovations signals that consolidation could accelerate.
Low concentrationCity University of Hong Kong — Imperial College Innovations is the sole confirmed co-filing pair
The only documented co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between City University of Hong Kong and Imperial College Innovations Ltd, which have jointly filed 7 patent families. No other multi-party collaboration pairs are identified in the corpus. This sparse collaboration network implies that most players are filing independently, and cross-institutional alliances beyond this pair represent an underexplored strategic tool.
Sparse collaborationChina leads filings; US and Europe are meaningful secondary venues
China is the dominant filing jurisdiction, followed by the United States and Europe (EPO). India has emerged as a notable third territory. WIPO (PCT) filings are modest relative to the corpus size, suggesting most applicants are filing nationally rather than pursuing broad international coverage — a potential vulnerability if commercial activity scales globally. Taiwan, Australia, and South Korea round out the coverage map.
China-ledGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| City University of Hong Kong | Imperial College Innovations Ltd | 7 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Top players: two co-leaders with distinct institutional profiles but overlapping technical focus
Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) and City University of Hong Kong share the lead position with 15 patent families each. Both concentrate their filings in H10K organic semiconductor device classes, though City University of Hong Kong entered as a new entrant in the recent filing window.
Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited
Holding 15 patent families, this CATL-affiliated entity focuses its filings almost entirely within H10K organic semiconductor device subclasses — covering perovskite device structures, absorber layers, and charge-transport engineering. Its momentum is classified as a new entrant in the recent filing window, meaning its position has been built recently and from a low prior base. The industrial parent’s manufacturing scale provides a credible path from patent to product.
patent families: 15City University of Hong Kong
Also at 15 patent families, City University of Hong Kong is the leading academic filer and is notable as the anchor of the field’s only confirmed co-filing alliance, jointly holding 7 families with Imperial College Innovations. Its technology emphasis spans H10K device subclasses across absorber and transport layer engineering, with 12 families filed in the recent window — all classified as new entrant momentum. Its collaboration posture makes it a likely licensing or spin-out source.
patent families: 15| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| City University of Hong Kong | 12 | ▲ new entrant |
| Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| Trina Solar Co Ltd | 5 | ▲ new entrant |
| Xi’an TJ-Solar New Energy Co Ltd | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| Imperial College Innovations Ltd | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| Saule SA | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth watching
Several IPC branches appear at low frequency relative to the dominant H10K class. These observations reflect relative sparsity in the current corpus and may indicate areas where targeted technical work could encounter less prior-art density.
C07D · Heterocyclic compounds
With only 17 records and a 3% share among the top IPC classes, heterocyclic compound chemistry is sparsely covered relative to device-level H10K work. Heterocyclic molecules are used as hole-transport materials and passivation agents in high-efficiency perovskite cells — areas directly relevant to PCE improvement. Researchers and companies with organic synthesis capabilities could file in this space with limited overlap against the existing corpus.
Search this in Eureka →B82Y · Nanotechnology applications
Nanotechnology (B82Y) accounts for 16 records and a 3% share, despite nanomaterials — quantum dots, nanoparticle additives, and nanostructured contacts — being well-documented routes to PCE gains in academic literature. The gap between published research activity and patent filing in this branch suggests an entry path for players with nanomaterial fabrication expertise, though commercial-scale reproducibility remains a known technical hurdle.
Search this in Eureka →Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 351 patent families in scope across all filing jurisdictions included in the analysis.
Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited and City University of Hong Kong are co-leaders with 15 patent families each. Trina Solar (8), Xi’an TJ-Solar New Energy (7), Saule SA (7), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (7), and Imperial College Innovations (7) follow immediately behind.
China is the leading filing jurisdiction. The United States and Europe (EPO) are the next largest venues. India has also emerged as a notable filing territory.
The field is classified as Growth. Annual filings have risen sharply since 2021, and the lifecycle evidence indicates that filings are still rising. The most recent 18–24 months are likely under-counted due to publication lag.
H10K (organic semiconductor devices) is the overwhelmingly dominant IPC class. Adjacent classes including C07D (heterocyclic compounds), B82Y (nanotechnology), H01G, C07F, and C07C each appear at much lower frequency.
The only confirmed co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between City University of Hong Kong and Imperial College Innovations Ltd, which have co-filed 7 patent families. No other multi-party co-filing pairs are documented in the corpus.
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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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