Solid-State Transformer for Renewable Hydrogen Patent Landscape
Solid-State Transformer for Renewable Hydrogen Patent Landscape in 2026
The solid-state transformer for renewable hydrogen field is early-stage and highly concentrated, with 21 patent families dominated by a handful of power-electronics and electrolyzer specialists led by Ohmium International. Activity is expanding on a multi-year basis, though annual volume has eased from its 2023 peak, and the most recent filing years remain understated by publication lag.
Ohmium International leads a tightly held, nascent patent corpus
Ohmium International holds the top position with 8 patent families, followed by ABB (Schweiz) AG with 5 and Sungrow Power Supply with 4, making the top three applicants alone responsible for the majority of filings in a corpus of 21 patent families.
Concentration is extreme: the top five filers collectively account for 96% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, leaving almost no meaningful share for late entrants within that ranked group. The gap between the first-ranked Ohmium International and the sixth-ranked Yanshan University is sharp, signaling a two-tier structure of industrial leaders versus a single academic participant.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohmium International Inc | 8 | |
| 2 | ABB (Schweiz) AG | 5 | |
| 3 | Sungrow Power Supply Co Ltd | 4 | |
| 4 | ABB E-Mobility BV | 4 | |
| 5 | Hitachi Energy Ltd | 3 | |
| 6 | Yanshan University | 1 |
The leaders’ positions imply early, strategic land-grabs in power conversion hardware (Ohmium, ABB, Hitachi Energy) and grid integration (Sungrow), with intellectual-property moats being established before the market scales. Entrants will need to navigate these foundational claims or pursue differentiated routes in adjacent branches.
Filing counts for 2024 and 2025 are understated due to the 18-to-24-month publication lag; the apparent slowdown in those years should not be read as a real decline in activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2023 filing surge anchors a field still building on a multi-year basis
The annual trend chart and the technology-branch breakdown together reveal a field that ignited in 2023 and is rooted in power-conversion and grid-systems IP, with electrolyzer-specific classes forming a secondary but meaningful cluster.
Annual filing trend
Filings were effectively absent before 2020, rose modestly through 2022, then surged to a peak in 2023. The three-year recent window sits 250% above the prior three-year window, confirming genuine multi-year expansion. The 2024 and 2025 bars are suppressed by publication lag and should not be interpreted as a real downturn.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H02M (power conversion) is the dominant branch, reflecting the core solid-state converter hardware. H02J (power supply and grid systems) and C25B (electrolytic production of compounds) form a strong secondary cluster, confirming that filings span both the transformer electronics and the electrolyzer stack. H01F (magnets, inductors and transformers) and H02P (motor and generator control) appear at moderate share, while G01R (measurement) and H05K (printed circuits) are sparse, representing the field’s least-covered adjacent branches.
↗ 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.
Direct-current coupling hydrogen production system…
The present invention provides a direct-current coupling hydrogen production system and a control method therefor. A first converter supplies hydrogen production electric energy to a hydrogen production tank system only when output electric energy of a new energy system of the hydrogen production system is greater than a preset threshold; and a second… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 基于混合整流器的大功率电解制氢电源系统及其控制方法 | 6 |
| 2 | Direct-current coupling hydrogen production system… | 6 |
| 3 | Systems and circuits for connecting components of … | 4 |
| 4 | Systems and circuits for connecting components of … | 2 |
| 5 | Systems and circuits for connecting components of … | 2 |
| 6 | Systems and circuits for connecting components of … | 1 |
| 7 | Modular multi-level converter for DC transmission | 1 |
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 IP structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of high concentration, rapid recent growth, and thin coverage in adjacent measurement and assembly branches shapes where incremental R&D investment will encounter friction versus open terrain.
Growth stage with eased annual volume since 2023 peak
The field is classified as Growth: the recent three-year filing window is 250% above the prior three-year window, confirming genuine expansion on a multi-year basis. Annual volume has eased from the 2023 peak, but this reflects normal post-surge consolidation and publication lag rather than saturation. The corpus of 21 patent families remains small enough that a focused program of 5–10 families could establish a meaningful position.
Growth stage96% top-5 share among ranked filers signals acute lock-in risk
The top five filers hold 96% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, an unusually high figure for a technology entering its growth phase. New entrants face a narrow corridor: differentiate on underserved branches (measurement, printed-circuit packaging), pursue cross-licensing, or compete head-to-head with well-resourced incumbents including ABB, Hitachi Energy, and Ohmium International. The small absolute corpus size means that even a modest filing program could shift relative share materially.
High concentrationABB’s intra-group co-filing is the only observed partnership
The only confirmed co-applicant relationship in evidence is between ABB (Schweiz) AG and ABB E-Mobility BV, who jointly filed 4 patent families — effectively an intra-group coordination rather than an external ecosystem partnership. No cross-company or industry-academia co-filing is observed beyond Yanshan University filing independently. This suggests the collaboration ecosystem is underdeveloped, which could be an opening for a research institution or component supplier to anchor a partnership with one of the industrial leaders.
Limited co-filingPCT-first strategy dominates; China and US coverage is thin
WIPO (PCT) leads with 7 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) with 5 and the United States with 4, indicating that applicants are prioritizing broad international protection through PCT before committing to national phase entries. China holds only 1 record despite hosting a major filer (Sungrow Power Supply), which may reflect domestic filing strategies or pending national-phase entries. Australia’s 2 records, likely linked to Ohmium International’s PCT family, stand out as an early mover signal in a non-traditional hydrogen market.
PCT-first, thin US/CNGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| ABB (Schweiz) AG | ABB E-Mobility BV | 4 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Ohmium International anchors electrolyzer IP; ABB entities own converter diagnostics
The two leading positions are held by an electrolyzer-native startup and an established power-electronics conglomerate, each approaching the technology from a distinct angle that shapes their claim scope and competitive moat.
Ohmium International Inc
Ohmium International leads with 8 patent families and entered the corpus as a new entrant, with 6 families filed in the recent window. Its technology focus spans electrolytic production of compounds (C25B 1), transformer and inductor hardware (H01F 29), and DC power conversion (H02M 3), reflecting a vertically integrated approach that couples the solid-state transformer directly with the electrolyzer stack. This integrated IP posture distinguishes it from pure power-electronics players.
families: 8ABB (Schweiz) AG
ABB (Schweiz) AG holds 5 patent families and is also classified as a new entrant in the recent filing window, with 4 recent families. Its focus is concentrated in AC/DC power conversion (H02M 7 and H02M 1) and electrical measurement (G01R 31), a diagnostic and converter-control orientation that complements the intra-group ABB E-Mobility BV portfolio (4 families, identical IPC focus). Together the two ABB entities form the most cohesive filing cluster in the field.
families: 5| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Ohmium International Inc | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| ABB (Schweiz) AG | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| ABB E-Mobility BV | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Hitachi Energy Ltd | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Yanshan University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Measurement and printed-circuit assembly are the least-covered adjacent branches
Two IPC branches sit at the low-density edge of the current corpus and are adjacent to the dominant power-conversion cluster; their sparsity is an observation of relative coverage, not a guaranteed commercial opportunity.
G01R · Electric & magnetic measurement
With only 3 patent records and a 7% share of the branch mix, electrical and magnetic measurement methods applied to solid-state transformer systems for hydrogen are underserved relative to the conversion hardware itself. Diagnostics for high-frequency transformer cores and electrolyzer cell-stack impedance monitoring are technically proximate and practically necessary for reliable operation; the current filing activity from ABB (Schweiz) and ABB E-Mobility BV occupies this space thinly. An entrant with expertise in wide-bandgap device characterization or in-situ electrolyzer diagnostics has a realistic path to establish differentiated claims here.
Search this in Eureka →H05K · Printed circuits & assemblies
H05K holds only 1 patent record and a 2% branch share, making it the sparsest IPC class in the corpus. Printed-circuit and power-module assembly techniques — including thermal management substrates for high-density DC-DC converters feeding electrolyzers — are a known engineering bottleneck at the power levels required for green hydrogen production. The near-absence of filings here may reflect that incumbents rely on standard power-module platforms, but it also signals an opening for component suppliers or packaging specialists to stake claims in thermally optimized assemblies tailored to this duty cycle.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants diverge across power-conversion, grid, and electrolyzer routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | H02M 7 · Power conversion (AC/DC etc.) | H02M 3 · Power conversion (AC/DC etc.) | H02J 3 · Power supply & grid systems | C25B 1 · Electrolytic production of compounds | H01F 29 · Magnets, inductors & transformers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohmium International Inc | Strong · 5 | Strong · 5 | Moderate · 3 | Strong · 6 | Strong · 5 |
| Hitachi Energy Ltd | Strong · 3 | Strong · 3 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent |
| ABB (Schweiz) AG | Strong · 4 | Moderate · 1 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Sungrow Power Supply Co Ltd | Absent | Absent | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent |
| ABB E-Mobility BV | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Yanshan University | Strong · 1 | Strong · 1 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covered by this analysis contains 21 patent families, making this a nascent and numerically small field relative to broader power-electronics or hydrogen-production domains.
Ohmium International Inc leads with 8 patent families, ahead of ABB (Schweiz) AG with 5 and Sungrow Power Supply Co Ltd and ABB E-Mobility BV each with 4.
WIPO (PCT) leads with 7 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) with 5 and the United States with 4. Australia holds 2 records, while China, India, and the UAE each hold 1.
The field is classified as Growth. The recent three-year filing window sits 250% above the prior three-year window. Annual volume has eased from the 2023 peak, but the most recent years are further understated by publication lag, so the overall trajectory remains expansionary on a multi-year basis.
H02M (power conversion) dominates with 14 patent records, supported by H02J (power supply and grid systems) and C25B (electrolytic production of compounds). G01R (electric and magnetic measurement) with 3 records and H05K (printed circuits and assemblies) with 1 record are the least-covered adjacent branches.
The only observed co-applicant relationship is between ABB (Schweiz) AG and ABB E-Mobility BV, who jointly filed 4 patent families. This is an intra-group coordination rather than an external collaboration; no cross-company or industry-academia co-filing is evident in the current evidence.
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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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