VRFB System Integration Patent Snapshot 2026
The VRFB system integration patent space is nascent and highly concentrated, with activity emerging only from 2022 onward and a small cluster of Chinese applicants holding the dominant positions. Shanghai Electric affiliates account for the largest share of filings, with the United States representing the only non-China jurisdiction on record.
Shanghai Electric affiliates lead a tightly held, early-stage field
The VRFB system integration corpus is extremely compact. Shanghai Electric Lingstor Technology Co. and Shanghai Electric (Anhui) Energy Storage Technology Co. jointly sit at the top of the applicant ranking, each holding two patent records, and together they represent the visible filing bloc in this space.
Concentration is acute: the top five filers account for 88% of the combined total across the ranked applicants visible in this query. Below the Shanghai Electric pair, the remaining ranked applicants — Xi’an Linchr New Energy Technology, Zhongna Energy Storage Technology, Supcon Technology, and UniEnergy Technologies — each hold a single patent record, confirming a steep drop-off after the leaders.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai Electric Lingstor Technology Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 2 | Shanghai Electric (Anhui) Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 3 | Xi’an Linchr New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 4 | Zhongna Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 5 | Supcon Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 6 | UniEnergy Technologies LLC | 1 |
The leaders’ positions imply that system-level VRFB integration know-how is currently being built and fenced primarily within one corporate ecosystem (Shanghai Electric), with only scattered independent efforts elsewhere. Any new entrant faces an incumbent that is actively co-filing across two related subsidiaries.
The most recent filing years should be treated as under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; the apparent absence of records in 2024–2026 does not indicate a halt in activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity began in 2022; battery-cell integration dominates the technology mix
Two charts together characterize a field that is both young and narrowly scoped: filing history shows a sharp emergence in 2022–2023, while the IPC distribution reveals that battery-cell and fuel-cell engineering is the anchor class, with grid-systems work as a secondary layer.
Annual filing trend
Zero activity was recorded before 2022, with two patent records appearing in each of 2022 and 2023. The 2024–2026 years show no records, but this reflects publication lag rather than a confirmed stop; filings from those years are still working through the publication pipeline and should not be read as a decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01M (batteries, cells, and fuel cells) is the visible IPC class with five records, establishing electrochemical cell design as the core technical anchor. H02J (power supply and grid systems) contributes three records, reflecting the system-integration aspect — connecting the stack to the grid or energy-management layer. H02M (power conversion) appears with one record, indicating that AC/DC conversion is a minor but present concern in current filings.
↗ 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.
Single capacity balancing in a redox flow battery
A method of operating an all vanadium redox flow battery includes providing an all vanadium redox flow battery comprising an anolyte storage tank including a volume of anolyte and a catholyte storage tank including a volume of catholyte; an electrochemical cell in fluid communication with the anolyte and catholyte storage tanks; and a predetermined range… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Single capacity balancing in a redox flow battery | 27 |
| 2 | 一种全钒液流电池换热系统 | 2 |
| 3 | 共直流母线的全钒液流电池光储系统及其控制方法 | 2 |
| 4 | 基于全钒液流的高压级联型SOC均衡系统及方法 | 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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Shanghai Electric Lingstor Technology Co.
Holds two patent records, focused on H01M 8 (batteries and fuel cells) and H02J (power supply and grid systems — both H02J 15 and H02J 3). The co-filing arrangement with its Shanghai Electric (Anhui) sister entity suggests a deliberate strategy to consolidate system-integration IP across related subsidiaries. Momentum is flagged as a new entrant, indicating all activity is recent.
patent records: 2Shanghai Electric (Anhui) Energy Storage Technology Co.
Also holds two patent records with an identical IPC profile to the lead entity — H01M 8, H02J 15, and H02J 3 — consistent with joint filing on the same applications. As a new entrant with all recent filings, its trajectory mirrors the leader’s, and the two together define the current frontier of VRFB system integration IP within the Shanghai Electric group.
patent records: 2Frequently asked questions
The current evidence covers 4 patent families in scope. This is a very small corpus, reflecting the field’s recent emergence from 2022 onward and its currently narrow geographic footprint concentrated in China.
Shanghai Electric Lingstor Technology Co. and Shanghai Electric (Anhui) Energy Storage Technology Co. are the joint leaders, each holding two patent records and co-filing on the same applications. The remaining ranked applicants — Xi’an Linchr New Energy Technology, Zhongna Energy Storage Technology, Supcon Technology, and UniEnergy Technologies — each hold one patent record.
Based on the available evidence, no patent records were filed in this space before 2022. Activity began with two records in 2022 and two more in 2023. Records for 2024 and later are subject to publication lag and should not be interpreted as confirming a halt in filings.
China is the visible filing jurisdiction, accounting for all four patent families in scope. The United States appears as the only additional jurisdiction with one patent record. No European, Japanese, Korean, or other offices are represented in the current evidence.
The most-cited reference in the corpus is titled ‘Single capacity balancing in a redox flow battery,’ with 27 citations. This work on capacity-balancing algorithms appears to be a foundational reference that subsequent filers have built upon, and it suggests that control and balancing methods are technically central to the field.
The only recorded co-applicant relationship is between the two Shanghai Electric affiliates — Shanghai Electric Lingstor Technology Co. and Shanghai Electric (Anhui) Energy Storage Technology Co. — which jointly filed two patent records. No cross-organization or academic co-filing is recorded 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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