SiC Storage Power Conversion Patent Landscape 2026
SiC storage power conversion is a concentrated, mature field dominated by a small cluster of Japanese and American industrial incumbents, with Mitsubishi Electric holding the largest single-applicant position. Annual filings peaked in 2017 and have eased considerably since, signalling a field in decline where foundational converter and semiconductor-device positions are largely established.
Mitsubishi Electric leads a tightly held field
Mitsubishi Electric Corp holds the top-ranked position among the largest filers, followed by Rohm Co Ltd and General Electric Co — three players that together account for the majority of activity among the hundred largest filers.
The top five filers collectively represent 65% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a highly concentrated competitive structure with a pronounced tier gap between the first three applicants and the rest of the ranked field.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 29 | |
| 2 | Rohm Co Ltd | 15 | |
| 3 | General Electric Company | 12 | |
| 4 | General Electric Renovables Espana SL | 9 | |
| 5 | GE Infrastructure Technology LLC | 6 | |
| 6 | Fuji Electric Co Ltd | 5 | |
| 7 | ROHANKAR KETAKI NILESH | 2 | |
| 8 | Jing Tsing (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd | 2 | |
| 9 | Technology Center of Guangzhou Customs | 2 | |
| 10 | ROHANKAR RUGVED N | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Bunker Hill Technologies LLC | 2 | |
| 12 | Shenzhen Yingfeiyuan Technology Co Ltd | 2 | |
| 13 | ROHANKAR NILESH B | 2 | |
| 14 | Daikin Industries Ltd | 2 | |
| 15 | PROF HEMAGI H KULKARNI | 1 | |
| 16 | Jiangsu Dongyuan Electric Appliance Group | 1 | |
| 17 | Xi’an Toptektec Technology Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 18 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 1 | |
| 19 | China Electric Power Research Institute Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 20 | DR HEMANT R KULKARNI | 1 |
The incumbents’ entrenched positions in core AC/DC power-conversion and semiconductor-device classes suggest that new entrants face high prior-art density in the primary patent routes and will need to identify adjacent or application-specific angles to compete effectively.
Patent publication typically lags filing by 18–24 months, so the most recent period in the trend data should be read as provisional rather than definitive. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing activity has declined from a 2017 peak; power-conversion IPC dominates
The annual filing trend and technology-composition charts together reveal a field that burst to peak activity in 2017 and has contracted steadily since, while remaining anchored in a single dominant IPC branch.
Annual filing trend
Filings peaked sharply in 2017 and have fallen in most subsequent years; the most recent one-to-two years are subject to publication lag and should not be read as the final tally. The overall recent-window growth rate is negative at -18%, consistent with a declining phase.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H02M (power conversion — AC/DC etc.) is the dominant branch by a wide margin, reflecting the converter-topology focus of the corpus. H01L (semiconductor devices) is the second-largest cluster, capturing device-level SiC innovations. H02J (power supply and grid systems), H10D (semiconductor devices, general), and H02P (motor and generator control) are present but at substantially lower volumes, pointing to adjacent spaces with comparatively sparse coverage.
↗ 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.
Power conversion system with galvanically isolated…
A power conversion system has a three-phase AC input, where each AC input phase is linked to a string of cascaded single-phase AC-DC converters placed in series with a three-phase AC-DC converter. Each single-phase AC-DC converter in one embodiment includes a silicon carbide (SiC) pulse width modulated MOSFET H-bridge that placed in series with the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power conversion system with galvanically isolated… | 95 |
| 2 | Semiconductor device and vibration suppressing dev… | 20 |
| 3 | Electric power conversion system | 15 |
| 4 | Filter Device for Power Converters with Silicon Ca… | 13 |
| 5 | Silicon carbide semiconductor device and power con… | 12 |
| 6 | An active neutral point clamped converter with sil… | 12 |
| 7 | Power conversion system | 12 |
| 8 | Control Method for Power Converters with Inverter … | 11 |
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
Three structural features — declining volume, high concentration, and a US-dominant jurisdiction profile — shape the strategic options available to both incumbents and new entrants in SiC storage power conversion.
Field is in decline from a 2017 peak
The lifecycle stage is classified as Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2017 peak and a recent-window growth rate of –18%. Core converter topologies and SiC device structures appear to be well-covered. R&D investment in this space should target differentiated sub-routes rather than the crowded primary H02M converter class.
Lifecycle: DeclineTop five filers control 65% of the leading-100 applicants’ output
The top five applicants — Mitsubishi Electric, Rohm, General Electric, General Electric Renovables Espana, and GE Infrastructure Tech — hold 65% of the hundred largest filers’ combined patent records. This level of concentration signals that the primary competitive positions are locked in; challengers are most active in adjacent or application-specific branches rather than the core converter route.
High concentrationNo co-applicant activity detected in scope
The collaboration data returns no co-filing relationships within this corpus, indicating that development in this field has been conducted within individual organisations rather than through joint-applicant partnerships. This absence may reflect the proprietary nature of SiC device and converter IP, or the relatively small size of the corpus. Monitoring cross-institutional filings in adjacent branches may surface emerging alliances.
Solo filersUS is the primary filing jurisdiction; Asia and Europe are secondary
The United States leads jurisdictions, followed by China, Japan, Europe (EPO), and India. WIPO PCT filings indicate some applicants are pursuing broader international coverage. The strong US weighting reflects both the home-office strategy of GE entities and the importance of the North American grid-storage and industrial markets. India’s presence, though modest, is notable given the cluster of individual inventors filing there.
US-led, global spreadGo 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.
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Mitsubishi Electric and Rohm lead with distinct technology emphases
The two dominant players occupy different technical niches within SiC storage power conversion: Mitsubishi Electric spans converter topologies and device-level claims, while Rohm’s portfolio skews more heavily toward semiconductor-device structures.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Mitsubishi Electric Corp holds 29 patent records — the largest position in the ranked corpus — concentrated in H02M 7 (AC/DC converter topologies), H01L 29 (discrete semiconductor devices), and H10D 62 (general semiconductor devices). This breadth across both converter and device layers gives the company an integrated IP position. Recent momentum has declined sharply (▼ –92% in recent filings vs. prior period), suggesting the company’s primary filing wave is largely complete rather than ongoing.
patent records: 29Rohm Co Ltd
Rohm Co Ltd holds 15 patent records and is classified as a new entrant in the recent filing window, indicating its activity in this specific corpus is recent and growing from a low prior base. Its technology emphasis spans H02M 7 (converter circuits), H01L 27, and H01L 29 (semiconductor devices), reflecting a device-centric strategy that complements — and competes with — Mitsubishi Electric’s integrated approach. Rohm’s new-entrant trajectory warrants close monitoring.
patent records: 15| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 1 | ▼ -92% |
| Rohm Co Ltd | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Technology Center of Guangzhou Customs | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Jing Tsing (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| MR RUGVED N ROHANKAR | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served routes in grid integration and crystal-growth process IP
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant H02M converter class carry comparatively few patent records, pointing to areas where coverage is thin relative to the technical relevance of SiC in those applications.
H02J · Power supply and grid systems
H02J accounts for only 15 patent records and 7% of the technology composition, despite SiC converters being directly relevant to grid-tied storage inverters, reactive-power compensation, and microgrid management. The sparse coverage suggests that grid-system-level claims — as distinct from converter-topology claims — remain relatively unoccupied. Applicants with SiC converter expertise could extend into grid-interface control architectures with limited prior-art friction in this branch.
Search this in Eureka →C30B · Crystal growth
C30B (crystal growth processes) appears in only 3 patent records — a share of roughly 1% — despite SiC substrate quality being a foundational enabler of converter performance. This near-absence likely reflects the fact that upstream SiC crystal-growth IP is filed under different search strategies or by dedicated materials companies outside this corpus. For vertically integrated players or materials specialists, this branch represents a technically adjacent and sparsely occupied entry point into the SiC storage supply chain.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across IPC branches
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H02M 7 · Power conversion (AC/DC etc.) | H02M 1 · Power conversion (AC/DC etc.) | H01L 29 · Semiconductor devices | H02M 3 · Power conversion (AC/DC etc.) | H10D 62 · Semiconductor devices (general) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | Strong · 29 | Moderate · 10 | Strong · 26 | Emerging · 2 | Moderate · 14 |
| General Electric Company | Strong · 25 | Strong · 15 | Absent | Emerging · 5 | Absent |
| Rohm Co Ltd | Strong · 15 | Absent | Strong · 13 | Absent | Emerging · 1 |
| Fuji Electric Co Ltd | Strong · 5 | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Technology Center of Guangzhou Customs | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent |
| DR NILESH B ROHANKAR | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| MR RUGVED N ROHANKAR | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 86 patent families in scope across the global filing landscape for SiC-based storage power conversion.
Mitsubishi Electric Corp holds the top position with 29 patent records among the hundred largest filers, ahead of Rohm Co Ltd (15) and General Electric Co (12).
The field is classified as Decline. Annual filings peaked in 2017 and have eased back since, with a recent-window growth rate of -18%, indicating that the primary wave of foundational patent activity is largely complete.
The United States is the leading jurisdiction, followed by China, Japan, Europe (EPO), India, and WIPO PCT. The US weighting reflects the strategic importance of the North American market to both GE and Japanese industrial filers.
H02M (power conversion — AC/DC etc.) is dominant by a wide margin. H01L (semiconductor devices), H02J (power supply and grid systems), H10D (semiconductor devices, general), and H02P (motor and generator control) are the next-largest branches, each at substantially lower volumes.
No co-applicant relationships are detected within this corpus. All identified activity has been filed by individual organisations, suggesting proprietary rather than collaborative development strategies in this field.
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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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