Solar Tracker Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. the top 5 assignees hold 517 of 818 records in scope (63.2%), and the top 10 push that to 80.4% — a small group has locked down most of the filed claim space.
- Filing has cooled since 2021. activity peaked at 148 records that year and has declined through the 2022 midpoint of 125 down to 11 in the most recent (partial) year.
- Mechanical sub-systems are lightly claimed. gearing and transmissions (F16H, 3.4%) and springs and dampers (F16F, 3.8%) sit far behind the core H02S and F24S classes, leaving structural and drivetrain claims comparatively open.
What this dataset covers
This landscape draws on 818 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 that combine solar tracker terminology — single-axis tracker, PV tracking system — with claim language around backtracking algorithms, wind stow, torque tube design, terrain following and energy gain, filtered to the F24S30, H02S20 and G05D3 classification families. It captures the mechanical, control and structural claims that sit around utility-scale and commercial tracker hardware, not general PV module patents.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent year in the trend is necessarily undercounted and should not be read as a real drop-off on its own. The picture that follows separates who has filed, what they have claimed, and where the claim space is still thin.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 818 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 34 in 2017 to a peak of 148 in 2021, held near that level through the 2022 midpoint (125), and have declined since — reaching 11 in the most recent, still-partial year. Read the tail end as incomplete rather than as a genuine collapse in activity.
IPC subclass composition
H02S (photovoltaic/solar power generation) appears in 92.9% of the 818 records and F24S (solar heat collectors) in 54.9%, confirming this is core tracker-hardware territory. Structural and drivetrain classes — F16M supports (13.0%), F16H gearing (3.4%), F16F springs and dampers (3.8%) — are present but far thinner, and a record can carry more than one class so these shares add up past 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 818 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Solar Tracker Systems with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about solar tracker systems and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
US12393208B2 — Backtracking method for solar tracker installation
A method of backtracking for a solar tracker installation utilizing a backtracking algorithm to calculate angles of inclination for the tables of each solar tracker assembly during morning and evening backtracking periods, mitigating shading of photovoltaic modules by adjacent rows that would otherwise occur under normal tracking mode. Ends of the torque tube beam of each solar tracker assembly are imaged to provide positional reference for the calculation.Filed by OMCO Solar, LLC; published 2025-08-19.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170359017A1 | Clip-on mounting rails, mounting brackets, and methods of mounting solar modules | 84 |
| 2 | US20180013380A1 | Dynamic stabilizer for solar trackers | 81 |
| 3 | US20180254740A1 | Spring counter-balance assemblies and solar trackers incorporating spring counter-balance assemblies | 70 |
| 4 | US20160308488A1 | Self-powered solar tracker apparatus | 65 |
| 5 | US20170102168A1 | Bearing assembly for solar trackers | 63 |
| 6 | US20170093329A1 | Array powered solar tracking system | 59 |
| 7 | US20150207452A1 | Single axis solar tracker | 55 |
| 8 | US20200052643A1 | Solar tracker bearing apparatus | 51 |
| 9 | US9466749B1 | Balanced solar tracker clamp | 48 |
| 10 | US20160218663A1 | Solar Photovoltaic Single Axis Tracker | 46 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations inside this corpus — treat them as a signal of influence rather than of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting or clearing a new tracker claim.
A small group controls most of the filed claim space
The leading assignee alone accounts for 277 of 818 records, and the top 5 combined reach 517 — 63.2% of everything in scope. Any new entrant filing core backtracking or torque tube claims is filing into territory the leaders have already mapped closely.
Filing has slowed since the 2021 peak
Activity climbed steadily to 148 records in 2021, sat near that level through 2022 (125), then declined. Recent-year momentum by assignee shows the same pattern — leading filers posting year-on-year declines rather than fresh surges, though the newest year is still an undercount.
Drivetrain and damping claims are comparatively thin
Gearing and transmissions (F16H) and spring/vibration-damping (F16F) each sit under 4% of records, well behind the dominant H02S and F24S classes. That gap suggests mechanical drivetrain and vibration-mitigation approaches are less thoroughly claimed than the control-algorithm and panel-mounting space.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to solar tracker systems, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gate sits
The ranking covers 100 companies counted by record; a handful of names dominate the top of that list while a long tail files once or twice.
One assignee holds a clear lead
The top-ranked assignee's 277 records outweigh the fifth-place holder's 51 by more than five times, and the tenth-place holder sits at just 20 — the drop-off from first to fifth is steep.
Co-assignee activity is limited and clustered
Only six co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest pairings involve the same small group of related entities, pointing to internal corporate structuring rather than broad cross-company collaboration.
Even the leaders are filing less
The top assignee's filings fell to 6 in the latest year, down 40% year on year; several other named filers dropped to zero or near-zero. That is consistent with the overall post-2021 slowdown rather than a single company retreating.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| NEXTPOWER LLC | 6 | -40% |
| Nextracker LLC | 1 | -97% |
| Array Technologies Inc | 1 | -50% |
| Nextracker Inc | 0 | — |
| FCX SOLAR LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Soltec Innovations SL | 0 | -100% |
| FTC Solar Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Ojjo Inc | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this
The dataset points to specific next checks rather than a single conclusion.
Clear a new backtracking claim
Before drafting a backtracking-algorithm claim, check it against the most-cited records in this set — several already claim morning/evening period calculations and torque tube imaging for shade mitigation.
Search backtracking prior art in EurekaWatch the slowdown, not just the leader
The post-2021 decline spans multiple leading assignees, not one company pulling back. Track whether filing recovers once the current partial year is fully published.
Set up filing-trend alerts in EurekaTest the drivetrain and damping gap
F16H and F16F coverage is thin relative to the core classes. Run a targeted search there before assuming the mechanical sub-systems are as crowded as the control-algorithm space.
Explore white space in EurekaCommon questions on solar tracker patents
In this dataset of 818 records, one assignee leads clearly with 277 records, more than five times the fifth-place holder's 51. The top 5 assignees combined account for 517 records — 63.2% of everything in scope — and the top 10 reach 80.4%. That level of concentration means most core backtracking, torque tube and mounting claims are already held by a small group of companies, so a freedom-to-operate review is essential before filing in this space.
No — filings rose from 34 in 2017 to a peak of 148 in 2021, held near that level through 2022 (125), and have declined since, down to 11 in the most recent year. That said, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the last year or so of data understates real filing activity rather than reflecting a genuine collapse. The broader trend since 2021 is still a slowdown, not just a reporting artefact.
The dataset is dominated by H02S (photovoltaic and solar power generation), present in 92.9% of the 818 records, and F24S (solar heat collectors) at 54.9%. Supporting structural and control classes appear far less often — F16M supports and frames at 13.0%, semiconductor devices (H01L) at 9.5%, and positioning/radar (G01S) and control of non-electric variables (G05D) each around 5%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100%, and they are measured against the full 818-record total, not against each other.
The lightest-claimed technical areas relative to the core tracker classes are gearing and transmissions (F16H, 3.4% of 818 records) and springs and vibration dampers (F16F, 3.8%), followed by radar/positioning-based tracking (G01S, 5.3%). These sit well below the dominant H02S and F24S classes, suggesting mechanical drivetrain, damping and sensor-assisted positioning approaches are comparatively under-claimed even though the broader tracker-control space is dense. That does not guarantee an easy filing, but it is a reasonable place to start a novelty search.
US12393208B2, assigned to OMCO Solar and published 2025-08-19, claims a backtracking method that calculates table angle-of-inclination values during morning and evening backtracking periods to prevent adjacent-row shading, using imaging of the torque tube beam ends as a positional reference. It sits alongside several other highly-cited records in this dataset covering mounting rails, stabilizers, spring counter-balance assemblies and bearing designs, which together map much of the mechanical and control claim space around commercial tracker systems. Anyone designing a backtracking or torque-tube-referenced control method should review it directly rather than relying on the abstract alone.
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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.