Silver Paste for Solar Cell Metallization Patents: Top Filers & Trends 2026
- 36.6% concentration. The top 5 assignees combined hold 347 of the 949 records in scope — a field with a clear head, not an even spread.
- +27% filing growth. Filings rose from 33 in 2021 to 42 in 2024, the last year with complete publication coverage.
- H01L dominates at 75.7%. Semiconductor device classes cover the large majority of records, while photovoltaic-specific classes like H02S (4.1%) and H10F (3.5%) stay comparatively thin.
Filing growth compares 2021 (33 records) with 2024 (42) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 949 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Silver paste for solar cell metallization sits at the intersection of conductive ink chemistry and semiconductor device fabrication. The 949 records in scope span front-side metallization pastes, fire-through glass frit formulations, and the finger-width and aspect-ratio geometries that determine how much silver a cell consumes per watt generated. Filing activity is not evenly distributed: it clusters around a handful of assignees who filed early and have kept filing, alongside a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one or two years in any trend chart will always look smaller than the true filing rate ends up being. Treat 2024 as the last year safe to read as complete, and read 2025–2026 as still filling in rather than as a genuine slowdown.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 949-record corpus: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings climbed from 34 in 2017 to a peak of 59 in 2022, then continued at a reduced but still active pace through 2024's 42 filings — a +27% rise over the 2021 figure of 33. The 2025 and 2026 counts (down to 6 in 2026) reflect publication lag rather than a real drop in filing.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
H01L (semiconductor devices) appears in 75.7% of the 949 records, reflecting how tightly metallization paste claims are bound to cell architecture. Conductor-and-insulator class H01B (13.0%) and printed-circuit class H05K (4.4%) show the paste's overlap with general electronics fabrication, while the photovoltaic-specific classes H02S (4.1%) and H10F (3.5%) are comparatively lightly claimed given the topic's subject matter.
Shares are the percentage of the 949 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Silver Paste for Solar Cell Metallization with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about silver paste for solar cell metallization and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Siloxane-containing solar cell metallization pastes
Frontside metallization pastes for solar cell electrodes contain siloxanes. Metallization pastes containing siloxanes can be used to fabricate fine line, high aspect ratio, solar cell gridlines.Filed by Zhejiang Kaiying New Materials Co., Ltd., published 2018-12-06 as US20180351011A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20140124014A1 | High efficiency configuration for solar cell string | 294 |
| 2 | US20150349703A1 | Shingled solar cell module | 170 |
| 3 | US20080128019A1 | Method of metallizing a solar cell substrate | 141 |
| 4 | US20140124013A1 | High efficiency configuration for solar cell string | 133 |
| 5 | US20090239331A1 | Methods for forming multiple-layer electrode structures for silicon photovoltaic cells | 129 |
| 6 | US20120171804A1 | Patterning of silicon oxide layers using pulsed laser ablation | 121 |
| 7 | US20170077343A1 | Shingled solar cell module | 120 |
| 8 | US20130213469A1 | High efficiency solar cell structures and manufacturing methods | 113 |
| 9 | US20130206221A1 | Solar cell with metallization compensating for or preventing cracking | 110 |
| 10 | US20080128013A1 | Electroplating on roll-to-roll flexible solar cell substrates | 100 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within the searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on subsequent filers, not as a ranking of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three findings that shape where to file, watch, or design around in this space.
The field has a clear head, not an even spread
The top 5 assignees combined account for 347 of the 949 records in scope, and the top 10 push that to 55.2%. That leaves a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants competing for the remaining claim space.
Momentum held through the last complete filing year
Filings rose from 33 in 2021 to 42 in 2024, with a peak of 59 in 2022 in between. Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the lower counts shown for 2025 and 2026 understate real activity rather than signalling a retreat.
Claims sit closer to device architecture than to paste chemistry alone
H01L (semiconductor devices) covers three-quarters of the 949 records, far ahead of photovoltaic-specific classes H02S (4.1%) and H10F (3.5%). That skew suggests most claims are written around how the paste interacts with cell structure, not the formulation in isolation.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to silver paste for solar cell metallization, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gate sits
A ranked field of 100 companies, led by a handful of filers with sustained output and a long tail behind them.
A single filer well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 149 records, more than four times the tenth-place count of 34. That gap is a useful signal of where the deepest prior art sits for anyone drafting new claims in this space.
The drop-off flattens after the top tier
Between fifth place (39 records) and tenth place (34 records), the spread narrows noticeably compared with the gap down from the leader. That flattening marks where the field shifts from a few dominant filers to a broader competitive set.
Momentum is uneven even among established filers
Recent-year activity is thin across the board: most tracked assignees show 0 or 1 filing in the latest year, and one leading filer's output fell 80% year over year. That is consistent with publication lag rather than an actual pullback from the technology.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd. | 1 | — |
| Intel Corp | 1 | -80% |
| SunPower Corporation | 0 | — |
| Solexel Inc | 0 | — |
| Total Marketing Services SA | 0 | — |
| Infineon Technologies AG | 0 | -100% |
| Applied Materials Inc | 0 | — |
| Wuhan DR Laser Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next questions rather than a single conclusion.
Map the white space in photovoltaic-specific classes
H02S and H10F sit well below H01L in filing share, which may mean genuine open space in photovoltaic-specific claims rather than saturation carried over from general semiconductor device art.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch the leader's recent filing pace
The top assignee's scale advantage is built on historical volume; recent-year YoY changes across leading filers suggest the pace of new claims is shifting even where the cumulative lead is not.
Track assignee momentum in EurekaRead citation leaders as influence, not currency
The most-cited records in this corpus date back over a decade; use them to understand foundational claim structures, then check recent filings separately for what is actually being claimed now.
Review key patents in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
One assignee leads the ranked field with 149 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 39 and tenth place at 34. The top 5 assignees together account for 347 of the 949 records in scope, or 36.6% of the total, and the top 10 push that share to 55.2%. Beyond that tier the field spreads across a long tail of companies with only a handful of filings each, so a freedom-to-operate check should prioritise the concentrated top tier before scanning the tail.
Filings grew from 33 in 2021 to 42 in 2024, a +27% increase over that span, with a peak of 59 filings in 2022. The lower counts shown for 2025 and 2026 reflect the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual drop in activity. Anyone reading the trend chart should treat 2024 as the last fully reliable year and expect the two most recent years to fill in upward over time.
H01L, the general semiconductor device class, appears in 75.7% of the 949 records in scope, making it by far the most common classification. Conductor and insulator class H01B follows at 13.0%, with printed-circuit class H05K at 4.4%. Photovoltaic-specific classes H02S (4.1%) and H10F (3.5%) are comparatively under-represented given the topic, which points to claim space that leans more on device architecture than on solar-specific framing.
US20180351011A1, filed by Zhejiang Kaiying New Materials, covers front-side metallization pastes for solar cell electrodes that contain siloxanes, used to produce fine-line, high-aspect-ratio gridlines. Its scope is centred on the siloxane additive route to achieving finer, taller printed lines, which is one specific chemical path among several documented in this corpus for improving finger geometry. Anyone formulating a competing paste around siloxane-based rheology modifiers should review this filing's claim language closely rather than assume the general aspect-ratio goal is itself blocked.
The clearest signal is the gap between the dominant H01L semiconductor-device classification (75.7% of 949 records) and the thinner photovoltaic-specific classes H02S (4.1%) and H10F (3.5%). That gap suggests claims framed specifically around photovoltaic module-level integration, rather than generic semiconductor device structure, are less crowded. Fire-through frit chemistry tuned for newer cell architectures and fine-line aspect-ratio control formulations are two of the more specific sub-areas worth checking against the ranked assignee list before drafting.
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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.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.