In 2012, California was not only the state with the greatest population; it was also the state with the most clean energy patents. According to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI), California was the leader in clean energy patents per state in 2012 with 346 patents, beating out second place New York by over 100 patents. Other top Clean Energy patent states:
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Listed below California's totals in 2012 for the various clean energy sectors and the top clean energy patent owners in California for this period:
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TOP 5 SECTORS FOR CA CLEAN ENERGY PATENTS |
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Industry Sector |
Patents |
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Solar |
211 |
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Fuel Cells |
55 |
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Biofuel/Biomass |
30 |
|
Wind |
21 |
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Hybrid |
20 |
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TOP 10 ASSIGNEES TO CA CLEAN ENERGY PATENTS |
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Assignee |
Patents |
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Applied Materials Inc. |
24 |
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Bloom Energy f/k/a Ion America |
20 |
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Sunpower Corp. |
19 |
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Solopower, Inc. |
14 |
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Alan Devoe, Lambert Devoe |
8 |
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Miasole |
8 |
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The Regents of the University of California |
8 |
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Twin Creeks Technologies, Inc. |
8 |
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Nanosolar, Inc. |
7 |
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Stion Corporation |
7 |
By far, the most impressive total is California’s 211 solar related patents, which is five times more than its nearest competitor, New York (37). It’s no surprise that 88 of these 211 patents came from the list of top 10 California clean energy patent owners. These top ten also accounted for 32 of the 55 fuel cell patents in California.
The list of top 10 assignees also indicates the top members in the overall categories. For instance, the University of California’s 8 patents were enough to rank it first among University assignees in 2012. Applied Materials, Inc. made a strong presence in the solar energy sector where its 24 patents brought it into a tie with DuPont for the top solar energy assignee. Joining Applied Materials, Inc. in the top 10 of solar energy assignees overall were Sunpower Corp. and Solopower, Inc. In addition, Bloom Energy’s 20 patents helped keep them in the top ten fuel cell owners in 2012.
While solar energy and fuel cell patents are well represented in the list of top 10 patent owners, the other three top sectors are not. Let’s take a look at who the top clean energy patent owners are in wind, biofuel/biomass, and hybrid patents.
According to an article in the San Jose Mercury, wind energy projects operating in California can provide enough electricity to power around two million California homes. The article states how wind technology is relatively mature such that investors are less attracted to invest in such technology. This could also be the reason why there is no clear cut major patent owner of 2012 wind patents in California…..another may be that GE’s wind research (which is producing plenty of patents –see http://goo.gl/tuZLc1) is done in upstate New York, near Albany. One California company that was assigned two wind energy patents was LightSail Energy, Inc. Created in 2009, LightSail Energy creates systems to store energy in compressed air. Their company attempts to capture the heat produced by compressed air and regenerate useful energy from it. Their 2012 patents involve storing energy generated by a wind turbine (see U.S. Patent Nos. 8,247,915 and 8,299,644).
Although not present in the top 10 California assignees, Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) was assigned five patents ranking it second overall in biofuel/biomass assignees in the United States. In response to the need to reduce petroleum fuel production as well as reduce carbon emissions, biofuels have become an increasingly viable option. Biofuels are produced from converting biomass or biological materials from living organisms. BAL focuses their technology on converting seaweed biomass into renewable chemicals and fuels. In their patents, BAL cites that the current method for converting biomass into biofuels has many problems including the need for land to cultivate biomass. BAL also proposes new methods, enzymes, and microbial systems that can be used to produce biofuels as well as produce biofuel enriched petroleum products (see U.S. Patent Nos. 8,318,473 and 8,318,464).
As hybrid/electric vehicle adoption rates continue to grow in 2013, the number of hybrid/electric vehicle patents also continues to grow. Hybrid/electric vehicle patents overall grew from 203 in 2011, to 286 in 2013. Rounding out the top 10 patent owners overall for this sector of patents in 2012 was California automotive company, Tesla Motors. This Silicon Valley based company produces only purely electric vehicles. As such, Tesla has focused a great amount of research on producing longer lasting batteries and more efficient battery charging. Through this research, Tesla has created Supercharger Stations that boast a 30 minute battery charge allowing its Model S to travel up to 200 miles. Tesla's research has also produced patented methods for efficient use of dual batteries in electric vehicles (see U.S. Patent Nos. 8,190,320 and 8,180,512).
The Golden State's thriving cleantech sector allowed it to lead the nation in clean energy patents in 2012 and it was more of the same for the first quarter of 2013 where California led Michigan by over 10 granted US clean energy patents and New York by over 40. For more information regarding clean energy patents see www.cepgi.com.