CPC technology class · H02

H02S - Generation Of Electric Power By Conversion Of Infrared Ra…

Generation of electric power by conversion of infrared radiation, visible light or ultraviolet light, e.g. using photovoltaic [pv] modules. 6,483 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

6,483
US patents granted: #7/9
in H02: 4.0%
H02 class share: +28%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Generation Of Electric Power By Conversion Of Infrared Ra… ranks #222 of 670 CPC technology areas - 6,483 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume up 28% over five years.

#222
of 670 CPC technology areas: 6,483
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Sunpower
leading assignee (212): +28%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How H02S's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, H02S recorded 3,177 grants versus 2,478 in 2015–2019 (+28% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2024 at 783 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 408 (+92% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Sunpower Corporation holds 3.3% of the class ; the top three share 7.2%.

Leaderboard read

H02S concentration, lead at 3.3%

Sunpower Corporation leads this historical grant record at 3.3% of H02S - us corporation assignees hold 68% of class grants (2,107 of 3,090). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 3.3%
Top three share: 7.2%
Lead over #2: 84

Where H02S sits inside H02

Among 9 subclasses in H02 (GENERATION; Conversion OR Distribution OF Electric Power), H02S ranks #7 and holds 4.0% of the parent class's 161,326 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

H02J 49,883 H02M 33,952 H02K 26,848 H02P 16,031 H02G 11,084 H02H 10,591 H02N 3,799 H02B 2,655

Rising assignees active in H02S

Company-wide grant multiples (2022–2024 vs 2019–2021) among assignees with ≥5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide; class patent counts are subclass-specific.

#1 Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. 245x 0 → 245 company-wide · 65 in H02S
#2 Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd. 86x 0 → 86 company-wide · 24 in H02S
#3 GAF Energy LLC 55x 1 → 55 company-wide · 67 in H02S
#4 Bmic LLC 35x 5 → 176 company-wide · 11 in H02S
#5 Lunar Energy, Inc. 34x 0 → 34 company-wide · 5 in H02S

H02S grants by year, peak 2024 (783)

US utility-patent grants per year in H02S, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 28% versus 2015–2019.

Sunpower

212
Nextracker

128
Solaredge

127
Solarcity

97
Gaf Energy

67
Huawei Digital Power

65
Unirac

61
Sma Solar Technology

49
Tigo Energy

48
Tesla

46
Sungrow Power Supply

45
Ojjo

37

What this shows Sunpower is the most active filer in H02S, holding 212 of the 6,483 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass H02S
Rank	Company	Patents in H02S
#1	Sunpower Corporation	212
#2	Nextracker LLC	128
#3	Solaredge Technologies Ltd.	127
#4	SolarCity Corporation	97
#5	GAF Energy LLC	67
#6	Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd.	65
#7	Unirac, Inc.	61
#8	SMA Solar Technology AG	49
#9	Tigo Energy, Inc.	48
#10	Tesla, Inc.	46
#11	Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.	45
#12	Ojjo, Inc.	37
#13	Enphase Energy, Inc.	36
#14	Sunmodo Corporation	35
#15	CertainTeed LLC	34
#16	IronRidge, Inc.	34
#17	LAT Enterprises, Inc.	29
#18	Array Technologies, Inc.	28
#19	FTC Solar, Inc.	27
#20	Ouraring Inc.	26

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading H02S assignee, placed by how many patents it holds in this class (horizontal) against its company-wide average claims per patent (vertical) - a read on whether the class is led by broad-but-shallow filers or focused deep-claim players.

Top 14 H02S assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in H02S. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near H02S's 6,483-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for H02S (#222 of 670 by volume ; lead share 3.3%) - not the H02 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

G01T 6,488 C07H 6,464 C11D 6,504 F04C 6,508

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B09B 3.3% C25F 3.3% G07C 3.3% H02M 3.2%

Questions about H02S

Which company holds the most patents in H02S?

Sunpower Corporation leads H02S with 212 patents (3.3% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, us corporations account for 68% of class grants.

Which H02S assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in H02S, Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (245x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 245 in 2022–2024) while holding 65 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does H02S compare inside parent class H02?

Inside H02 (GENERATION; Conversion OR Distribution OF Electric Power), H02S ranks #7 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 4.0% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is H02J (49,883 grants).

What to do with this data

H02S in context - here's where to go next.

Sunpower Corporation leads H02S with 212 grants in this class. See full portfolio
H02S ranks #222 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class H02, the largest sibling subclass is H02J with 49,883 grants. Explore H02J

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - H02S figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (6,483 grants in the tracked window).

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.