Quantum Dot Solar Cell Patent Landscape 2026
Quantum Dot Solar Cell Patent Landscape in 2026
The quantum dot solar cell patent field is in a decline phase, with annual filing volume easing back from its 2017 peak and a modest top-five concentration among the hundred largest filers. Bolymedia Holdings leads the field by patent records, but the broader applicant base spans diversified industrials, specialty materials firms, and academic institutions, signaling a fragmented competitive structure.
Bolymedia Holdings leads a fragmented, multi-sector field
Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd holds the top position with 45 patent records, followed by Honeywell International Inc with 34 and JFE Steel Corp with 20. The ranking reflects a diverse mix of technology companies, steel and materials firms, and universities rather than a single dominant ecosystem.
The top five filers account for 27% of the combined total among the hundred largest filers — a moderate concentration level indicating no single player has locked up the space. The gap between the leader and the second-ranked applicant is meaningful but not insurmountable for a well-resourced challenger.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd | 45 | |
| 2 | Honeywell International Inc | 34 | |
| 3 | JFE Steel Corporation | 20 | |
| 4 | Sharp Corporation | 18 | |
| 5 | Kao Corporation | 17 | |
| 6 | KOREA RES INST OF STANDARDS & SCI | 16 | |
| 7 | Kyocera Corporation | 13 | |
| 8 | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 12 | |
| 9 | Kookmin University Industry Academic Cooperation Foundation | 9 | |
| 10 | Bugsy Solar LLC | 9 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | The Regents of the University of California | 9 | |
| 12 | Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) | 8 | |
| 13 | Florida State University Research Foundation Inc | 8 | |
| 14 | Hyundai Motor Company | 8 | |
| 15 | Magnolia Solar Inc | 7 | |
| 16 | University of Pittsburgh | 7 | |
| 17 | SolarPaint | 6 | |
| 18 | The Trustees of Princeton University | 6 | |
| 19 | Daicel Corporation | 6 | |
| 20 | Korea Basic Science Institute | 6 |
Bolymedia’s emphasis on photovoltaic system-level patents (H02S, F24S) distinguishes it from Honeywell’s concentrated semiconductor-device position (H01L), suggesting the two leaders are pursuing largely non-overlapping technical routes rather than competing head-to-head on the same claims.
Filing counts for 2024–2026 are under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; the apparent drop in those years should not be interpreted as an acceleration of the decline trend. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2017 and has eased; semiconductor device patents dominate the mix
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal a maturing field whose primary technical home is semiconductor device engineering, with adjacent branches in organic semiconductors and nanotechnology representing secondary clusters.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked at 42 in 2017, fell sharply through 2019, partially recovered to 30 in 2021, and have since eased again. Values for 2024–2026 are incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a continuation of the decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (semiconductor devices) dominates with 451 patent records, far ahead of H02S (photovoltaic/solar power generation, 79) and H10K (organic semiconductors, 78). Nanotechnology applications (B82Y, 56) and capacitors (H01G, 35) form a secondary tier, while solar heat collectors (F24S, 31) and materials (C09K, 26) trail further behind.
↗ 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.
Quantum dot solar cell
There is provided a quantum dot solar cell having a high optical absorption coefficient. The quantum dot solar cell includes a quantum dot layer <b>3</b> including a plurality of quantum dots <b>1,</b> wherein the quantum dot layer <b>3</b> includes a first quantum dot layer <b>3</b>A having an index σ/x of 5% or more, wherein x is an average particle size… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nanostructured material comprising semiconductor n… | 112 |
| 2 | Solar Cell Devices | 103 |
| 3 | Nanomaterial scaffolds for electron transport | 79 |
| 4 | Photodetectors and Photovoltaics Based on Semicond… | 75 |
| 5 | Quantum dot solar cell with conjugated bridge mole… | 71 |
| 6 | Quantum dot photovoltaic device | 67 |
| 7 | Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Device and Manufacturing … | 62 |
| 8 | Systems and methods of remote object tracking | 61 |
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 strategy
The combination of a declining filing rate, moderate concentration, sparse collaboration, and broad geographic spread shapes both the risk profile and the entry calculus for new R&D investment in quantum dot solar cells.
Field is in decline from its 2017 peak
The lifecycle stage is Decline, with annual filing volume easing back from the 2017 peak of 42 filings. A 14% contraction in the recent window reinforces the signal. Teams entering now face a field where foundational positions are already staked, making differentiated technical angles — rather than broad claims — the more defensible approach.
Lifecycle: DeclineModerate concentration, no dominant incumbent
The top five filers hold 27% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, which is moderate for a specialist photovoltaic subfield. The leader’s 45-record position and the second-ranked player’s 34-record position leave room for a focused challenger to move into the top tier within two to three filing cycles. The fragmented applicant base also means licensing opportunities are distributed across many holders.
Fragmented top tierMinimal co-filing; one notable academic-industry pair
The only identified co-filing relationship in the corpus is between Sharp Corporation (Sharp KK) and the University of Tokyo, with four co-filed records. The near-absence of broader consortium activity suggests that knowledge transfer between academic laboratories and industrial filers is occurring informally rather than through formal joint-application structures — a potential gap for ecosystem builders.
Sparse collaborationUS-centric filing with meaningful EPO, China, and Korea presence
The United States leads all jurisdictions with 220 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 68 and China at 64. South Korea (45) and WIPO PCT (41) round out the top five, and India (25) has a notable footprint given the field’s size. The spread across US, EPO, and Asian offices indicates that leading filers are pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection, raising the cost of freedom-to-operate for late entrants.
US-led, multi-regionGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sharp Corporation | The University of Tokyo | 4 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Bolymedia and Honeywell lead via divergent technology routes
The top two applicants hold materially different technology profiles: Bolymedia concentrates on system-level photovoltaic and solar thermal integration, while Honeywell’s portfolio is anchored in semiconductor device engineering.
Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd
Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd holds 45 patent records, the largest count in the corpus. Its technical focus spans H02S (photovoltaic/solar power generation, 37 records), F24S (solar heat collectors, 25 records), and H01L semiconductor devices (11 records), indicating a system-integration rather than device-physics approach. Recent filing momentum shows a sharp decline (▼ –92% in the most recent period versus the prior window), suggesting its active filing phase has largely concluded.
45 patent recordsHoneywell International Inc
Honeywell International Inc holds 34 patent records and is concentrated almost entirely in H01L semiconductor devices (34 records), with secondary positions in H01L process engineering and H10N solid-state devices. This device-physics depth contrasts with Bolymedia’s system-level orientation. Applicant momentum data for Honeywell is not separately itemized in the trend evidence, so trajectory assessment for this applicant is evidence pending.
34 patent records| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd | 1 | ▼ -92% |
| Kao Corporation | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC branches appear in the corpus at low-to-moderate counts relative to the dominant H01L class, suggesting areas where quantum dot solar cell innovation intersects with adjacent fields but has not yet been heavily claimed.
H10K · Organic Semiconductors
With 78 patent records, H10K (organic semiconductors, including perovskite and OLED-adjacent chemistries) is the third-largest branch but remains sparse relative to H01L. Quantum dot–organic hybrid architectures for improved charge transport and stability represent a plausible technical value proposition. Entry paths include licensing from academic filers active in this space (Florida State University Research Foundation, Princeton) or developing proprietary ligand-exchange chemistries that sit at the H10K/H01L boundary.
Search this in Eureka →B82Y · Nanotechnology Applications
B82Y covers cross-cutting nanotechnology applications and appears in 56 patent records in this corpus — substantial in absolute terms but low relative to the semiconductor device core. Given that quantum dot synthesis and surface engineering are inherently nano-scale processes, the relative sparsity of B82Y claims suggests that many filers are not cross-claiming into nanotechnology application classes. This represents an adjacent branch where process and synthesis patents could be staked with less crowding, provided the technical claims are sufficiently distinct from existing H01L filings.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ across technology routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | H01L 31 · Semiconductor devices | H02S 40 · Photovoltaic / solar power generation | H01L 51 · Semiconductor devices | H10K 30 · Organic semiconductors (OLED etc.) | H01G 9 · Capacitors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd | Moderate · 11 | Strong · 37 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Honeywell International Inc | Strong · 34 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Kao Corporation | Strong · 15 | Absent | Strong · 15 | Absent | Absent |
| Sharp Corporation | Strong · 15 | Absent | Emerging · 2 | Absent | Moderate · 4 |
| JFE Steel Corporation | Strong · 20 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Bugsy Solar LLC | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 7 | Strong · 7 |
| Kyocera Corporation | Strong · 13 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 209 patent families in scope. Applicant rankings within the analysis are measured at the patent-record level, which can differ from the family count because a single family may be filed across multiple offices.
Bolymedia Holdings Co Ltd leads with 45 patent records, followed by Honeywell International Inc with 34 and JFE Steel Corp with 20. The top five also include Sharp Corporation (18 records) and Kao Corporation (17 records).
The United States leads all jurisdictions with 220 patent records. Europe (EPO) follows at 68, China at 64, South Korea at 45, and WIPO (PCT) at 41. India also has a notable 25-record presence.
The field is classified as Decline. Annual filing volume peaked in 2017 at 42 filings and has eased since then, with the most recent measurement window showing a 14% contraction. Note that 2024–2026 figures are under-counted due to publication lag.
H01L (semiconductor devices) dominates with 451 patent records — more than five times the second-ranked class. H02S (photovoltaic/solar power generation, 79 records) and H10K (organic semiconductors, 78 records) form the secondary tier.
Identified co-filing is sparse. The only confirmed co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between Sharp Corporation and the University of Tokyo, with four co-filed records. Broader consortium or cross-industry co-filing is not evident in the current 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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