Inventions for photovoltaics increased more than seventeen-fold in three decades

The technology insight report analyses trends across 30 technologies over a period of five decades. The findings consider information on some 340 000 inventions, including 70 000 international patent families, spread across four areas: photovoltaic materials, photovoltaic devices, the management of these devices, and application areas.

The number of photovoltaic inventions started to grow considerably in the late 1990s, increasing more than seventeen-fold over the past three decades. While device technologies played a key role throughout the period 1990-2023, accounting for up to 78% of all inventions, the role of the other sub-areas has steadily grown. For the years 2020-2023, 48% of all inventions were related to device technologies, followed by applications (25%), photovoltaic materials (17%) and device management (10%).

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